SMG Broadens Desmond's Role

NEW YORK MediaVest USA CEO Laura Desmond has been promoted to chief executive of Starcom MediaVest Group/The Americas, the Publicis Groupe agency confirmed today. The promotion is effective Oct. 1.With the promotion, Desmond, 41, assumes responsibility for all U.S., Canadian and Latin American operations. She will oversee Starcom, MediaVest, GM Planworks, StarLink, Halogen (direct marketing) and Tapestry (multicultural). Desmond assumes a post last held by SMG worldwide CEO Renetta McCann before McCann was promoted a year ago. Desmond will continue reporting to McCann. Desmond will remain based in New York, but make frequent trips to Chicago where SMG is based.She will also continue to be CEO of MediaVest until next year, when she will name a successor, the agency said. For now, some of her MediaVest duties will be handed off to other executives, though Desmond maintains oversight on key accounts including Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble."Laura took the reins of MediaVest at a particularly challenging time in the company's history and in three years led it to a leadership position in the industry. I expect the same kind of growth and thought leadership from her as her purview expands across our largest region," said McCann, in a statement.Desmond was named CEO of MediaVest in 2002 and has managed a workforce of more than 600 employees in New York. With this promotion, she will oversee an additional 1,200 staffers throughout the SMG North and Latin American networks. Now reporting to Desmond will be John Muszynski, chief executive of Starcom USA; Dennis Donlin, president of GM Planworks in Detroit; Ken Zasky, chief executive officer of StarLink; Lauren Richards, chief executive officer of SMG's Canadian operations; Martha Marin, chief executive of SMG's Latin American region; Monica Gadsby, chief executive of Tapestry; and John McNamara, chief executive of Halogen."We are going to need new skill sets, operating models and capabilities to lead clients through the changes. Digital won't be an option, it will be a mind-set. We will drive the capabilities across the entire employee population," Desmond said.Desmond joined what was Leo Burnett Media in 1987 as a media associate. She moved up to supervisor on the Heinz and McDonald's accounts and then switched to the General Motors business, serving as the interim media services director. In 1994, she became a vice president at Leo Burnett and two years later became the international media director on the Kellogg account. In 2000, Desmond was named CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Latin America, where she doubled the region's revenue over the next three years.

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SMG Broadens Desmond's Role

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