The recruitment of Aimee Buchanan (pictured) comes two months after Mark Lollback stepped down from the position of GroupM ANZ CEO on May 19, 2021.
Buchanan has been CEO of OMD since 2016 and sits on both the MFA and UnLtd boards. Her career spans more than 20 years in media agencies. In her time at OMD, the agency has grown to become the largest media agency in Australia.
Aimee Buchanan said: “It is with a heavy heart that I leave my OMD friends and family. I have loved every step of the journey with this team and I am proud of what we have built and achieved together. A big thank you to all of the OMDers across the nation, our clients and partners for all their support over the last 10 years. I am excited to take on the new role at GroupM and believe they are uniquely placed to influence how media drives growth for clients’ businesses and shapes society. I look forward to working alongside the GroupM leadership and the broader team to set GroupM up for a bright future.”
Ashutosh Srivastava, GroupM APAC CEO and acting CEO GroupM Australia said: “Aimee is an exceptional agency leader with a phenomenal track record and an intimate knowledge of what clients need, and how agencies and their people thrive. She is a truly visionary leader, whose priorities and integrity align with ours. She is client obsessed and always puts her people and culture first.
“GroupM’s purpose is to harness intelligence and imagination to create, integrate and scale breakthrough ideas that help businesses leap forward. Aimee is the perfect person to lead GroupM’s ambitious program of change, enable our agencies to succeed and enhance their capabilities to meet current and future client needs and drive faster growth in the business.”
GroupM is the media investment arm of WPP AUNZ.
Peter Horgan, CEO Omnicom Media Group, Australia and New Zealand, will be covering the OMD CEO duties whilst an executive search is undertaken for Buchanan’s replacement.
Horgan commented, “Aimee has made an incredible contribution to OMD in her time with the business. She has been a big part of the successful position the agency is in today, and for that we thank her immensely. We wish Aimee well in her new challenge.
“We are confident that we have the talent and structures in place for the continued success of OMD and our clients. The executive team and leadership across all offices is strong and we look forward to the next chapter.”
See also: Jens Monsees steps down as CEO of WPP AUNZ after 20 months