Omnicom Media Group NA Names Katie Klein Chief Investment Officer

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is hiring PHD principal Katie Klein as chief investment officer, she shared with ADWEEK.

Klein previously held the same role within the subsidiary Ph.D. United States. During her three years there, she built an integrated investment arm serving clients including Burger King, Delta Airlines, Diageo, Priceline, Uber and Volkswagen Group.

Prior to PHD, she spent more than 16 years at agency Publicis Zenith, where she rose to senior vice president and commercial head of national video investments.

At OMG, Klein will oversee the billing of $20 billion in media spend across traditional and digital channels.

“I have practical, real-world context for how the group can best empower and accelerate public-focused investments in our agencies,” she said in a statement. “Bringing this perspective to my new role, my priority will be to take a constant approach to driving innovation with our partners to achieve transformative results for our customers. »

Omnicom credited Klein with crafting some of the industry’s first multi-screen initial deals, creating partnerships leveraging cultural moments, developing a playbook for leveraging CTV as a performance vehicle, and creating a multi-channel training and development program.

Klein will be based in New York and report to OMG North America CEO Ralph Pardo. She succeeds Geoff Calabrese, who will leave the company next year. Omnicom plans to reveal its replacement at PHD in early January.

His appointment comes weeks after Omnicom struck a deal to take over the Interpublic Group and form the largest advertising group in the world. COMvergence believes that together the two companies will oversee the north of $71 million in media bills.

At a company town hall, Pardo called Klein a “practitioner leader” capable of addressing the most critical priorities of modern marketers: performance and transformation.

“She has a strong track record of creating value, working with partners and media platforms to unlock unique opportunities that create significant benefits for our clients across inventory, data, content, commerce and sponsorship,” he said in a statement. “And she is an effective leader with a unique ability to identify emerging talent and expand opportunities at all levels for her team.”