NEW YORK Barbara Cipolla, U.S. president at WPP Group's MediaCom, has left the shop, the agency confirmed today.
Commenting on her departure, Cipolla said, "When I was at Mediaedge and then MediaCom, I really thrived on transformation and change. That's really something I like to do in the industry. I think my record has shown that and it's time now to apply that somewhere else."
Cipolla joined the shop from sibling agency Mediaedge:cia in May 2007, when Dene Callas was still running MediaCom. Current North American CEO Doug Checkeris replaced Callas in August of that year.
Previously, Cipolla was at sibling shop MEC, where she served as managing partner and director of marketing and business development. She was credited with helping MEC win key accounts such as Cingular, Energizer and Paramount.
Cipolla joined MediaCom with a remit to expand the agency's strategic offering and help in the day-to-day running of the agency. In February 2008, she hired Margaret Lewis as chief strategy officer.
The agency confirmed her departure, but had no further comment beyond saying it would issue a statement at a later time. Sources pointed to the shop's hiring of Euan Jarvie in the newly created position of chief client officer for its U.S. operations this May and said there was some overlap between his role and Cipolla's. Both reported to Checkeris.
Jarvie previously served as head of MediaCom's operations in Scotland and Ireland as managing director.
In his new role, he is involved in the development of all aspects of client-facing operations, focusing on areas such as organizational structure, talent development, best practices and collaboration. In addition, as part of the U.S. senior leadership team, Jarvie helps to set overall direction for the organization.
The agency credits him with building and growing MediaCom's business in Scotland and Ireland. At the time of his hire, Checkeris said: "We are thrilled that Euan has joined our U.S. team. With Euan on board, our most senior people, including me, will have the opportunity to spend even more time providing strategic direction to our clients and, of course, focusing on business growth and leadership opportunities."