Kirk Macdonald: Last News

Kirk McDonald, North America CEO for media agency GroupM, plans to step down by the end of the year.

GroupM, the media investment arm of ad agency giant WPP, has named Sharb Farjami as its North America CEO.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Sharb Farjami will take the reins of the North American operations of GroupM, the media-investment giant that is part of WPP. Farjami had been CEO of North American for Wavemaker, one of the big media-buying units of GroupM..

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kirk McDonald, a veteran ad executive who has served as the face of WPP‘s large GroupM media buying consortium to U.S. advertisers, is leaving the company as it once again sets about to refashion its executive ranks. McDonald, who joined GroupM in 2020 after a stint at the ad-tech unit known as Xandr, is set to leave at the end of 2023, the WPP unit confirmed Monday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor GroupM, the large WPP-owned media-investment agency, wants advertisers to do more when it comes to supporting diverse media. After calling for advertisers to put between 2% and 5% of their annual media spend into multicultural media venues, the media buyer hopes clients will now invest the upper end of that range. “As the largest media investment company in the world, we have a responsibility to accelerate growth through the next era of media,” said Kirk McDonald, CEO, GroupM North America, in a statement. “That means making our industry more inclusive and equitable for all publishers. As well as, sharing brands’ products and services with audiences that are representative of the changing face of America in service of growing their businesses.” Under GroupM’s effort, marketers would ensure the money is invested across Black, Hispanic, AAPI and LGBTQ+ owned and/or focused media.

Motion Content Group, an industrious producer and co-financier of Love Island, Wynonna Earp and some 1,800 other series globally, is rebranding as GroupM Motion Entertainment in North America.

The reception to Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America on Amazon Prime Video last year provided Amazon marketing chief Ukonwa Ojo’s point when she said today at Cannes Lions: “It’s not possible to reach diverse audiences without diversity.”

By Dade Hayes