Former Naked chief executive Mat Baxter will join GroupM agency MediaCom in the newly created role of chief strategy officer, AdNews can reveal.
Baxter, who has previously criticised traditional media agencies, starts at the WPP-owned agency next week, three months after his sudden departure from Naked, the agency he co-founded in 2004.
“I’ve definitely been a vocal critic [of big media agencies],” Baxter admitted. “I don’t think that’s a secret and I don’t apologise for it.
“What I’ve said in the past is that it’s impossible for media agencies structured in a traditional way to be media neutral. It is less to do with whether they plan and buy media, and more to do with the way in which strategy is developed within those businesses.
“[MediaCom] is undergoing a radical transformation and getting the chance to be part of that is bloody exciting. For me this is about trying to be part of the solution. I can effect more change from within than I ever could from the outside.”
MediaCom Sydney managing director Toby Jenner [far right] said: “Naked’s a very good business, so why wouldn’t I employ someone who helped shape the communications planning at Naked?”
Baxter [right] began his media career in 1999 at Zenith, where he worked under current MediaCom chief Anne Parsons. He left Zenith in 2003 to head to Maximise, before founding Naked.
Baxter will lead MediaCom’s planning capabilities. He is the most high profile in a string of senior hires since Jenner joined MediaCom from Mediaedge:cia London in May 2008. Other hires include Nick Keenan as head of print, Harry Jayaweera heading MediaCom direct, and Catriona Muspratt as head of RealWorld Insights.
“I’m really excited about the scale,” Baxter said. “There are vast resources here, there’s an enormous global network, there are lots of brilliant people and cutting edge tools. The challenge will be deploying these things in a creatively driven, efficient and sustainable way.”
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