Sarah James leaves Initiative to become EssenceMediacom’s chief investment officer
After news broke that she had resigned from Initiative as its managing director, EssenceMediacom has announced that Sarah James is taking on the chief investment officer (CIO) role at the GroupM-owned agency.
James’ appointment is backed by more than 15 years’ of experience in the media industry, having worked at Dentsu Aegis Network’s Woolworths agency, Carat Australia, in digital leadership roles. The long-time media expert has also worked overseas in MediaCom’s New York office.
In her new gig, James will collaborate with GroupM’s CIO, Melissa Hey, to manage a client portfolio valued “close to $1 bn in client media spend”.
Mike – the person running initiative is the person who has been running it all along while others have been promoting themselves and taking free holidays. Chris of course is the biggest lost. A true talent.
Who is actually running Initiative at the moment?!?
If I’m a client of theirs and 4 of their leaders have exited / are to exit in quick succession, my only question is ‘why’? Jobs like CIO don’t just come up; these things takes months to discuss. I’m also left wondering who’s running the Melbourne office; yes there are reports that Mark Coad will be reaching backwards to help manage, but that’s not a long term strategy. Feels like we might be about to see Dentsu 2.0
Well done SJ
A great hire for the team at EM