Yesterday we noted the revolving doors in media agency land – top level exits at Dentsu Aegis (Carat), OMD (a voluntary one it seems) and Starcom – now it’s Havas Media Group UK CEO Paul Frampton who’s leaving the company after a long stint.
Frampton (left) is to be replaced by number two Matt Adams, reporting to Havas UK and Europe CEO Chris Hirst.
Frampton, who’s been a lively leader, punching above his weight in terms of publicity, says it’s the right time to move on after 20 years.
Hirst says: “I’d like to thank Paul for everything he’s achieved and wish him every success for the future. Matt has already demonstrated his intelligence and strong leadership capabilities both to our clients and our teams – we’re very lucky to have him. I look forward to working with him for the next exciting stage of our journey.”
Quite where that journey leads is anyone’s guess. There are probably a number of reasons for these high profile exits in media agency land, so-called “delayering” is doubtless one of them but some people will have decided to jump first. Delivering holding company numbers has suddenly become much harder for media execs as clients wise up to the money some have been making from media owner rebates and the like.
“Delayering” is a convenient euphemism.
Missing budget by a record amount is a more likely reason – tends to upset the shareholders.