At last night's MFA Awards IPG's man of the moment, Henry Tajer, was inducted into the Hall of Fame – below in why the MFA decided to honour the media mogul.
Henry Tajer took off for New York earlier this year to take on the global CEO role at IPG Mediabrands. He had led the Australian business for seven years as executive chairman at the same time as holding the global chief operating officer role since 2014 while based in Sydney.
Credited with building up IPG’s stable of specialist agencies in Australia, his promotion to lead the global group is an acknowledgement of the outstanding success of the Australian operation in recent years. Under his watch IPG grew from around 150 people, to more than 700. As the global CEO, He runs a business that currently invests $37 billion in global media on behalf of clients, employs more than 7,500 marketing communications specialists in 127 countries.
Tajer, often outspoken about the challenges media and advertising face and how to overcome them, is widely respected in the industry both personally and professionally and his departure to the US marks the end of an era according to some.
When he was appointed to the global role in March, IPG chairman and CEO of the Interpublic group, Michael Roth, said of Tajer: “Henry is a great media executive, who is valued by our people, clients and media partners. He’s made Australia one of the growth engines for our network, with a vibrant and collaborative work environment in which new capabilities continue to come to the fore.”
Shortly before leaving Sydney for New York, Tajer told Adnews that his strategy for leading in a global capacity would not be all that far from his approach locally in that he is evaluating where the network, domestically and internationally, has strengths but also gaps to fill.
As global CEO, he leads growth initiatives across the broader IPG Mediabrands global network including mobile, social media marketing and data and media investment on a worldwide scale.
Prior to taking on the IPG role, Tajer was CEO of UM for Australia and president Asia Pacific from January 2005 to December 2008. He was formerly national trading director for Zenith Media from 1999 to 2005.
Henry’s primary professional interests are the development of the people and skill sets within IPG Mediabrands and leveraging those skills to create effective solutions for clients that deliver true business returns. When he’s not at work, Henry most enjoys his family life and keeping a high level of fitness.
Check out Tajer's reaction to the big news :
For more on the winners of the 2015 MFA Awards, pick up the next issue of AdNews magazine dropping tomorrow (16 October) featuring a supplement on all the winners. Need to grab AdNews before it lands on desks? Subscribe here.
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