Jones, who is leaving the Aegis agency to take up a commercial strategy director role at News International, is hard at it by 7.15am each day and doesn't leave until 7.45pm. It's typical of his no-bullshit approach and underlines the dedication needed to get to the top in media. There are those who say if you cut Jones he would bleed Carat, so it was a big decision to sever the umbilical cord and decamp to Wapping. After 18 years at Carat, Jones probably felt the next move would be pivotal and couldn't see an upward path.
His boss, Aegis Northern Europe chief executive Nigel Sharrocks, shows no signs of moving on - and when he took the European role last year, there was no accompanying promotion for Jones. If Sharrocks has been considering candidates for an Aegis UK chief executive position, Jones hasn't been one of them. The industry rumour mill had already gone into overdrive earlier in 2008 when agency veteran Mark Cranmer was brought in to Aegis on a part-time consultancy role. Rightly or wrongly, it was perceived as a snub for Jones.
Jones is an excellent appointment for News International and will bring with him superb client and media agency experience. He leaves big shoes to fill at Carat - in more than one sense. His position will be taken on an interim basis by the agency's capable deputy managing director, Steve Hobbs.
But the move is not without its complications. Jones' expertise with clients will be vital, but how will agencies used to facing him in hand-to-hand combat feel about dealing with him in his new guise, including, presumably, revealing their trading strategies? What happens if the NI move doesn't work out and Jones returns to agency-land with this new-found intelligence?
Then there's the question of how Jones will work with NI trading director Dominic Carter, who is understood to have been sceptical about the separate strategy role and fancied combining both tasks under his own remit.
But that's all for the future. For now, let's congratulate the likeable Jones and wish him well at NI.
steve.barrett@haymarket.com
www.mediaweek.co.uk/stevebarrettblog
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