OMD UK Promotes Rigby To New Group Research Role
OMD UK has announced the promotion of research head, Jo Rigby, to the newly created role of group research director across its network of three media planning and buying agencies.
The move will see Rigby take responsibility for research functions across the entire media group, working with in-house teams at OMD UK, Manning Gottlieb OMD and OMD International.
Commenting on her appointment, Rigby said: “I’m planning to look closely at the opportunities between the three agencies and how we can export some of the things we’ve done at OMD UK across the rest of the group.”
She added: “We’re also looking at beefing up our media research credentials. We are very focussed on consumer and brand-understanding, and are looking at several big new media projects over the next few months. I am very excited by the challenge.”
Among the topics to be targeted by Rigby in her first month as group research head is online advertising. She told NewsLine that the company recently embarked on a large-scale study into rich-media advertising, which will be launched in around four weeks.
Rigby’s appointment comes just days after Omnicom-owned agencies OMD UK, Manning Gottlieb OMD and PHD Group announced plans to bring together their media negotiating operations to form the UK’s largest single buying point (see Omnicom Pools Resources To Form UK Buying Point).
Nick Manning, OMD UK’s recently appointed group chief executive, explained that Rigby’s skills would now be used in a similar fashion, as they are made available group-wide to maximise efficiency. He said: “We are making sure that all of our best resources operate across the group. Where we have excellent operators like Jo, we’re making sure that the work she does is available to everybody within the group.”
He added: “Jo will work equally across OMD UK, Manning Gottlieb OMD and OMD International to help planners and buyers in all locations. Everybody has to be at the top of their game in terms of understanding and that level of knowledge has to be common across our brands, it also has to be better than anyone else’s. Jo is going to make sure that all of the practitioners have more information at their fingertips than anyone else.”
Last month Rigby, who has been at OMD for the last four years, was named chairwoman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s newly renamed Media Research Advisory Group (see Rigby To Head IPA’s Media Research Advisory Group).
OMD: 020 7908 3400 www.omdmedia.com
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