Zenith has announced the hire of OMD UK’s chief strategy officer, Rian Shah, for a new leadership role focused on driving brand growth for clients.
Reporting to Zenith’s global brand president Vittorio Bonori, Shah will join the network in September as managing director, UK Hub, where he will focus on driving collaboration for global, regional and local clients.
Shah, who will be based in London, will become a member of Zenith’s global leadership team and will also sit on the agency’s UK management team, under the leadership of UK CEO Mark Howley.
In a statement, Zenith said Shah will focus on “driving clients’ transformation agendas, bringing together all the products and services from Publicis Media’s Practices in the UK – such as Content; Performance; and Data, Technology & Innovation – to support client goals.”
Shah joined OMD UK in 2013 as managing partner, and prior to that had spent eight years at former Zenith agencies.
Between 2010 and 2013, he worked at ZenithOptimedia UK, first as strategy director before going on to be head of strategy. While at the group, Rian also had a stint as senior planner at Moxie in the US.
“As we move forward as the ROI agency, Rian joins a fantastic global team and will play a key role in bringing together all the capabilities from across Zenith and Publicis Media to drive transformational growth for clients,” said Bonori.
Shah added: “I am very excited at the prospect of working again at the agency where I had so many happy and successful years. With Zenith’s new vision and approach and with Publicis Media’s market-leading Practices, I believe we have a fantastic opportunity to really drive transformation for clients.”
