Dentsu Aegis Network has appointed Wendy Clark as its new global CEO, commencing September this year.
Clark has close to three decades’ industry experience and joins Dentsu Aegis from Omnicom Group, where she had been CEO of ad network DBB Worldwide for two years. She joined the network in 2016 as CEO, North America.
Prior to Omnicom, she spent seven years at The Coca-Cola Company in various global and regional operating roles, most recently as president of sparkling brands and strategic marketing. In her career she has also held senior positions at AT&T and GSD&M.
“It’s both an incredible honor and deep responsibility to join DAN at this crucial time,” Clark said.
“Given such unprecedented global change it’s more important than ever that we’re completely focused on creating insightful, informed, important ideas for brands, businesses and their customers.
“I genuinely can’t wait to meet the 42,000+ associates of DAN later in the year – when the world emerges from this significant period of change and turbulence – so we can roll up our sleeves and get to work creating value and impact for our clients, together.”
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On joining the business, Clark will report into Tim Andree, who has been executive chair of Dentsu Aegis since it was founded in 2013 and has added the CEO role to his responsibilities for the past 15 months, since the departure of Jerry Buhlmann.
Commenting on the news, Andree, who led the hiring process, said: “Following a thorough and considered global search, I am happy to welcome Wendy as our new CEO and look forward to working together to drive our ambitious agenda forward.
“With her combined experience of walking in the shoes of the client, coupled with her leadership in running a large global creative agency network, Wendy is the stand-out choice for the role.”
He added that Clark’s experience is “hugely complementary” to the network’s growth plans over the next decade.
Andree has been on a health-related leave of absence since January, but returned to his role as director of Dentsu Group Inc last month and is to return to his other roles at Dentsu Aegis Network in a phased approach.
Toshi Yamamoto, president and CEO of Dentsu Group Inc, will continue as acting executive chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network during this period.
