WPP-owned agency MediaCom has promoted Steve Gladdis to EMEA chief strategy officer, with Geoff de Burca succeeding him as UK CSO.
Gladdis first joined the agency 15 years ago, and has spent the last three years as CSO in the UK. In his new role, he will be responsible for developing the agency’s planning capability and culture throughout the EMEA region.
“I’m very proud of the work that we do at MediaCom to drive growth for our clients, and it’s been a privilege to work with the brilliant people who make up the UK agency – they’ve been a second family to me for more than a quarter of a century,” Gladdis said.
“I will miss being a part of the UK business, but I’ve always found it stimulating and rewarding to spend time with colleagues from other markets.”
Meanwhile, de Burca has been MediaCom UK’s head of strategy since 2015, running the agency’s team of strategists and leading the Social Change Hub. He has acted as strategy leads on clients including Cancer Research UK and Tesco.
“Taking up the position of UK CSO is an exciting new chapter in my MediaCom life. I’m proud to be leading such a brilliant, talented and genuinely lovely group of people, who continue to produce outstanding strategy work for clients day in and day out,” he said.
Commenting on the promotions, Josh Krichefski, CEO of MediaCom EMEA, added: “Steve has played a huge role in building MediaCom UK into the industry leader that it is today. From ensuring there’s a strong planning culture, an understanding of what great planning work looks like, and bringing a collective excitement about the possibilities to every brief, he has guided hundreds of media planners at MediaCom.
“Geoff is one of the people who has benefitted from his tenure and I’m excited to see Geoff grow further in his new role as UK CSO. He’s been a key member of our strategy team for the past 10 years and has brought an incredible passion for the job each and every day.”
