GroupM enters critical stage of its development

He established WPP's GroupM trading operation and made it the behemoth it is today, but WPP recently confirmed that Allan is moving from GroupM to succeed Alexander Schmidt-Vogel as worldwide chief executive of MediaCom, with Nick Theakstone rising from chief operating officer into Allan's old job. Allan has hired MediaCom UK chief executive Nick Lawson for the MediaCom EMEA role, with Jane Ratcliffe replacing Lawson.

So it's Theakstone who must build on Allan's legacy. He is a smart operator, but situation dictates he may find it more difficult to keep GroupM's agencies in line than his ex-boss.
In this week's profile, Theakstone points out that GroupM is about more than buying clout; it's also about supplying its agencies with proprietary and media evaluation tools, content and anything else they want.

But, as we reported last week, the likes of Mediaedge:cia are quite capable of producing their own tools and MindShare and MediaCom have long expounded the value of investing in content, so GroupM must find its niche within the existing initiatives at all its agencies.

There is also festering resentment at the agencies about the high service charges they pay GroupM, and some questioning of whether they could obtain better trading deals themselves.

Then there's the added complication that, not so long ago, Theakstone reported to one of his agency heads, Jed Glanvill, as head of investment at MindShare. The opposite is now true.

MediaCom's Lawson has conveniently been promoted, but Mediaedge:cia's boss Tom George may also feel differently about reporting to Theakstone than he did to Allan.

GroupM is a juggernaut that operates way above its rivals, but it is now entering a very different phase in its development, with different and difficult challenges ahead.

- As we rentrée after our summer breaks, Media Week has made a few small changes. Our esteemed agony uncle David Emin's Dilemma column has been promoted to page 19. In his place on page 37 are two new job-related elements: This Is What I Do - a weekly look at an individual in the media sector's working life - and Turning Point - where media's great and good remember the pivotal points that shaped their careers. If you know someone who should be included, e-mail hayley.pinkerfield@haymarket.com