VMLY&R has announced its new European management line-up headed by CEO Andrew Dimitriou, previously president of Y&R Europe. Jamie Mandelbaum is CCO and Saul Betmead CSO.
The recently-merged WPP agency is also launching three so-called regional centres of excellence in the UK, Poland and Turkey.
Dimitriou (below) says: “With this infusion of talent, capabilities and markets, we are creating the most relevant marketing company in the region. For example, we’ve been working with Lavazza for five years, and they have expanded their relationship with us due to the capabilities of our new Technology Centre of Excellence. The teams in Milan and Poland are now enabled to deliver connected consumer experiences that embed the brand in people’s lives and drive Lavazza’s strategic business priorities.”
John Lynn
VMLY&R claims a number of new business successes and says its European headcount has increased by five per cent even as other WPP agencies are cutting back.
But the affable Dimitriou now needs to engender some team spirit in an agency still reeling from the seemingly improvised brutality which saw the newly-installed Y&R London management team summoned to the office to be given their cards. With neighbours Wunderman wondering what lay in store for them (they emerged on top in the subsequent Wunderman Thomson merger.)
