Hearn, who was until last year CEO and managing director of Australia's largest food brand manufacturer, Goodman Fielder, will be based in New York at Bates headquarters and will report directly to Cordiant CEO Michael Bungey.
The appointment comes amid a series of management changes. Last week, Cordiant appointed Toby Hoare, the head of the Bates London agency, to lead the network's European operations.
Bill Whitehead, who heads the network's North American operations, and Ian Smith, who leads Bates Asia Pacific, have both been appointed regional presidents of Bates Americas and Asia Pacific respectively.
However, these changes were not enough. Last week, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 quoted an industry source as saying: "There's nobody currently pulling the network together. The post will almost certainly be filled by an outsider. There is no internal candidate."
Hearn will face an uphill task -- the agency has been hit by a number of losses of late, not least the $300m Hyundai media account. Bates USA West, Irvine, California, is currently waiting to hear if it will hang on to the creative business. Last week Hyundai Motor America confirmed it had made the shortlist for the $160m account.
Under Hearn's leadership, Goodman Fielder was significantly refocused and a marked improvement in its financial performance was achieved. Bungey will be hoping he can do the same for Bates.
Prior to running Goodman, Hearn's career has included management positions with several of the world's leading brands and marketing multinationals including Procter & Gamble, Del Monte, Smiths Crisps, PepsiCo and United Biscuits.
Reporting to Hearn will be the three regional presidents of Bates Worldwide and the existing CEO of 141 Worldwide, Colin Hearn. These come in addition to the promotions of Whitehead and Hoare.
With David Hearn's appointment at Bates Worldwide, Whitehead and Smith will be resigning from the Cordiant board.
Cordiant CEO Michael Bungey said: "David's appointment and this regrouping of Bates' senior management are an important step in taking the network forward. David has outstanding management credentials and a successful career with some of the world's leading brands. He brings both an experience and dynamism to Bates, which will make an invaluable contribution both at the network and at group level."
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