Former Starcom CEO Pippa Glucklich has resurfaced at Dentsu Aegis Network after taking a few months out to spend time with her family.
In her new role as CEO of Amplifi UK, Glucklich will become DAN’s head of all things programmatic, as well as leading branded entertainment division The Story Lab.
It’s a good hire for DAN’s UK executive chairman Stef Calcraft, one of the founders of creative agency Mother, who was brought in to shake things up at the start of this year.
Glucklich had a good track record during her five years as Starcom CEO, and, as vice-president of WACL and a prominent voice for NABS, she is a popular figure in the industry.
It’s also good to see a senior woman back at DAN after Tracy De Groose quit as UK CEO at the end of last year. Although Dentsu Aegis Network’s gender pay gap is one of the best among the big groups, its women’s median hourly rate is still 14.5 per cent lower than men’s.
Dentsu is looking like one to watch. It was top of Recma’s 2017 new business table — mostly thanks to winning AB InBev in Europe, the US and Africa towards the end of last year — and the leadership is starting to stack up under Jerry Buhlmann. Buhlmann lured former colleague Nick Brien back to the media mainstream last summer by making him CEO of US and the Americas, and Calcraft’s surprise appointment signalled a new direction for the UK group.
Glucklich said: “Amplifi/Dentsu Aegis Network is a truly innovative and disruptive business with deep capabilities and a clear vision for all media activation to be people-based. I’m delighted to be joining them at such an exciting and pivotal time and look forward to working with the talented team there to lead the market in media innovation and delivery of the best value to clients.”
Matthew Platts, Glucklich’s predecessor as CEO of Amplifi, moves up to the newly created role of CEO of Media Brands across Dentsu Aegis Network UK. Glucklich and her fellow agency leaders at Carat, Vizeum, iProspect, and Fetch will all report direct to him.
Calcraft said: “In Pippa and Matthew will play a central role in driving our continued growth and innovation strategy, simplifying our media businesses and delivering superior creative communications solutions for our clients. I am delighted to have them both on the leadership team. ”