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Leo Burnett North America puts media tech expert Swinand in charge

Lose a big account and people seem to go missing too. Last year Publicis-owned Leo Burnett lost McDonald’s to Omnicom’s new We Are Unlimited and long-serving worldwide chairman Tom Bernardin is on his way although he’s staying as a consultant until the end of the year. Global CEO Rich Stoddart is becoming president in line with Publicis Groupe nomenclature.

New broom is Andrew Swinand (below), apparently a tech expert, who is becoming North America CEO. Swinand, a media man, was a group client at Procter & Gamble’s Secret before leaving to start tech outfit Abundant Venture Partners in 2011. AVP’s 60-strong The Abundancy and Ardent will be rolled into Burnett.

Publicis Communications CEO Arthur Sadoun says these technology experts will give Burnett a “big competitive edge.” He describes Swinand as an entrepreneur woo understands technology, media and creativity (presumably in that order).

Publicis is busily pursuing a “Power of one” strategy, supposedly aimed at “breaking down silos.” What it also seems to mean is fewer top execs, with media tech-savvy personnel increasingly in charge.

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