-By Steve McClellan

NEW YORK OMD has begun a major reorganization of its account teams and formulated a plan to hire a new senior tier of execs to oversee account clusters and serve as broad-based business consultants.

The first executive to be hired under the new structure is Elizabeth McCune, who will serve as group client director for one of the shop's biggest accounts as well as several smaller clients. McCune was previously with WPP's Ogilvy & Mather, where she was svp, director of communications planning.

McCune will report to Scott Hagedorn, managing director of OMD's eastern region. Hagedorn said that McCune's client list, with total billings of about $500 million annually, would be finalized in the next two weeks.

Hagedorn said the new team leaders would serve "more like senior business consultants than media people. Over time these jobs have become much more business strategy oriented. Because of that we are rethinking that top-level position.

"We're telling clients how to spend $50 million or $100 million and we have to be able to objectively say that based on data, modeling [and other] analyses and based on what opportunities exist in the market that this is the best use of their money," Hagedorn said. "Our client leaders must have that broader business [and] strategically-focused background."

At Ogilvy, where her clients included American Express, Cisco and Kraft, McCune was responsible for coordinating the communications planning practice. She was also on the executive committee within Neo@Ogilvy, responsible for helping shape the future of digital and communications planning. Prior to Ogilvy, she held senior posts at the Catalyst strategy and research unit of Havas' MPG.