Dan Johns exits IPG Mediabrands as four senior executives depart in major restructure
IPG Mediabrands has been hit by a mass exodus of senior executives led by the departure of chief operating officer Dan Johns as part of a major restucture.
Johns one of four senior executives leaving IPG
IPG confirmed Johns resigned from the group last week and Mumbrella understands three other senior IPG executives have also resigned from the company for unrelated reasons.
Others to have left the business in recent days include Mediabrands’ group strategic operations director Kerry Boys, group business operations director Hugo Cutrone and Ansible Australia general manager Timo Kugler.
Such a shame to see a company lose momentum so quickly. [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
It seems like every week there is another senior person leaving Mediabrands. Something feels very wrong, because not many groups can lose talent like Dan…
It’s inevitable. The model created by Tajer and Co was simply unsustainable. You can’t have all these business and expect them all to continue operating in the way they have . Ferraris in the garage and a champagne lifestyle had to end one day.
Unfortunately you merge/close businesses down then you’re going to need to cut your cloth accordingly . That means saying goodbye to people.
As a media owner trying to navigate MB for the last 5 years has been a nightmare. God knows what their clients and staff had to put up with.
Seems sensible to me – less brands more power to the agencies .
Seems like the power couple of Bass & Fein are really ruffling some feathers. Nepotism much? Word on the street is that there are a lot more people to exit shortly. Watch this space.
Shame for Dan, really nice guy
Henry Tajer created this short term business that was never sustainable
I will be surprised if Mediabrands exist in Australia in 2 years
Agency momentum is cyclical. Not too long ago, people were speaking about phd as OMD’s ugly baby sister, but now they are riding an immense wave of momentum.
Mediabrands for a long time has had a very good run, it is now losing a little bit of momentum but if you don’t react, how can you improve?
Change is a good thing, no doubt they’ll return to being the powerhouse they were/are.
Reprise, UM, Initiative and even Cadreon have a tremendous reputation in market, seems smart to me to capitalise on this but keeping things simple under 3 major umbrellas.
What are those three umbrellas?
One each for:
– sunny weather/UV rays
– rain
– stormy weather
As per the article…
Reprise
UM
Initiative
Good move and should have happened years ago. They’ve got rid of the businesses that created the ‘MediaBrands’ reputation, simplified their offering and made the agencies stronger ?
Tajer has got a lot to answer for. [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Right about Dan though, he’s a class act .
Thanks. So where does Studio fit in? Is that part of Reprise now? And does that mean Cadreon no longer exists?
WHO is that Tim Kuger guy? Never heard of him before?? Are they cleaning the shop?
AND no mention of Cadreon?????
Clearly you’re a futurist. Media is a dying, algorithmic industry that a short sighted CEO has decided to prioritise. Perhaps Danny should be looking at the industry he claims (on this channel no less) to represent, and it’s 3 to 5 year future rather than at that space somewhere between his neck and his shoes.