Having Had CEO's Chair, Dooner Now Has His Ear

It has been two years and two months since John Dooner was replaced as CEO of Interpublic Group and returned to his job running McCann WorldGroup, the largest of IPG's agency networks. In that time, he has continued to play a key role, sometimes behind the scenes, in the parent company's decisions. Since January, when Dooner's successor, David Bell, moved to co-chairman, and operating chairman Michael Roth took over as CEO, Dooner's influence has steadily grown, sources said. It was Dooner, after all, who brought Roth to IPG. The former MONY Group CEO joined the IPG board in February 2002 and is the only board member Dooner appointed in his time at the helm. The two have forged a deeper relationship than the usual advice-and-counsel interaction between a holding-company CEO and his operating heads, sources said. "There's definitely trust," one source said. In January, Roth gave Dooner the strategic task of reorganizing IPG's media agencies under a single holding structure, replacing unit heads and seeking someone to lead the new umbrella operation. (That has been a focus of Dooner's for some time—sources said he has been discussing the need to overhaul how IPG goes to market in the media discipline for almost a year.) Dooner is also spearheading the holding company's critical pitch against Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group in General Motors' $3.2 billion media-buying shoot-out. As further evidence of Dooner's influence, sources point to IPG's decision in January to take a stake in Endeavor Marketing Solutions, a firm run by Mark Dowley, a protégé of Dooner's at WorldGroup who had moved up to work at IPG after Dooner became CEO. In October 2003, Bell dissolved the sports and entertainment marketing division that Dowley ran, leaving him without a job. But when Dowley resurfaced late last year, entering into talks with IPG and Omnicom Group over Endeavor, it appeared that Roth, then IPG chairman, was interested in part because of Dooner's enthusiasm for Dowley. The Endeavor unit is now aligned with Foote Cone & Belding, not WorldGroup—another sign that Dooner's influence extends beyond his own agency. Dooner has introduced top IPG clients to Roth, who had no prior agency experience, and reassured them after last month's acquisition accounting problem surfaced. Other operating chiefs also calmed clients then, but as IPG's largest network, McCann works for more top IPG clients than any other shop. (At WorldGroup, Dooner has focused primarily on upgrading agency leadership in Europe, the U.K., Asia and Mexico, and winning new business, with notable success. In the past year, the shop has added Intel, Verizon Wireless, Viagra and Staples, with combined billings of nearly $800 million.) For the most part, Dooner's influence is met with equanimity among operating heads and other IPG insiders, partly because it logically flows from his relationship with Roth and also because, as one executive said, "He was at the top and understands the issues." Dooner and Roth referred questions to an IPG rep, who said, "John's operational expertise in a number of key areas is an asset that we'll continue using to the benefit of Interpublic."

Brand Marketing

Having Had CEO's Chair, Dooner Now Has His Ear

Kathleen Sampey

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Kathleen Sampey