WPP’s MediaCom has hired Anush Prabhu, who held top planning roles at several New York agencies, to serve as its managing partner and chief strategy officer.
Prior to making the move, Prabhu spent more than a decade with the Deutsch organization, rising to the level of partner, chief channel planning and investment officer during his second stint at the agency’s New York office.
In the new role, he will serve as a member of the WPP shop’s executive leadership team reporting directly to MediaCom USA CEO Sasha Savic. The chief executive writes, “Anush brings a valuable combination of media expertise, data chops and analytics experience, coupled with a true sense of how creative and communications can positively impact consumer beliefs and behaviors. His professional DNA is a perfect match for our positioning as The Content + Connections Agency.”
Prabhu started his agency career as an assistant account executive working on the IKEA business at Deutsch New York and eventually worked his way up to the level of VP, director of CRM strategy before leaving in 2007 to join JWT. After a later stint at mcgarrybowen, he returned to Deutsch in 2012 and got the top media position in 2013.
Throughout his 15-plus year career, he has helped clients such as J&J, Verizon, Sherwin-Williams and United Health combine data and creative.
“The media agency of the future must be able to navigate and develop client-centric solutions at the intersection of creativity, data and technology,” the new hire said in a statement. “This belief drove my decision to join MediaCom, one of the best, most original and most passionately committed agencies in the world. With its vast arsenal of resources and talent, there is no better place for me to seize tomorrow and deliver the greatest possible value to clients.”
Deutsch New York CEO Val DiFebo added, “His leadership and understanding of the firepower of analytics and communications planning was an imperative to our team and we wish him nothing but tremendous success, he will be missed.”