Almost a year after resigning as chief operating officer of Publicis Sapient EMEA, Ewen Sturgeon has returned to the agency world as Wunderman Thompson’s CEO, Europe and South Africa.
The former CEO of Digitas LBi International played a crucial role in the agency’s acquisition by Publicis Groupe in 2013, and led the integration of DigitasLBi, SapientRazorfish and Sapient Consulting Assets across Europe to form the world’s largest digital marketing agency.
He has also served as non-executive director and counsellor to a number of organisations, including Bulbshare and Guild.
In his new role, Sturgeon will oversee the strategic growth of Wunderman Thompson’s business and operations across the European and South African regions, reporting into global CEO Mel Edwards.
“I’ve been a massive admirer of Ewen’s for some time now. He is a well-respected entrepreneur and innovative leader with a brilliant history of leveraging breakthrough creativity, data and emerging technology to inspire growth for clients and partners,” Edwards said.
“His experience of bringing together pioneering businesses to create something new and unique is why he is perfect to lead our European region. We are beyond thrilled to have Ewen join the Wunderman Thompson family.”
In his new role, effective May 7, Sturgeon will be based in London and will oversee 6,500 employees across 76 offices in Europe and South Africa.
Commenting on his new role, Sturgeon said that Wunderman Thompson’s offering is the reason he is returning to agency life, and that he “couldn’t be more excited for this journey”.
“I’ve said before that ‘going forward, the ownership of actionable data and the strategic, organisational, technical and cultural chops to leverage this as a competitive advantage, will be central to the success of any brand’,” he added.
“Wunderman Thompson has everything a modern agency needs and more. They are doing things differently in today’s ever-changing market, and I was impressed by their approach to business growth and ability to help clients’ future proof the way they engage with customers.”
Advertising giant WPP merged JWT – the world’s oldest ad agency at 154 years – with digital network Wunderman in November last year, positioning it as a creative, data and technology agency providing end-to-end solutions at a global scale.
