Grey London has promoted chief creative officer Laura Jordan Bambach to the additional role of president.
The agency is also in the process of appointing a new managing director following the聽departure of chief executive Anna Panczyk.听
Jordan Bambach, who joined Grey less than a year ago, previously reported to Javier Campopiano, creative chairman in London and chief creative officer of Grey Europe, but will now report to Grey's worldwide CEO Michael Houston.
Houston is on the senior leadership of AKQA Group, into which Grey was recently placed with sister WPP shop AKQA as part of the holding company's plans to merge the two agencies. Houston is chief operating officer and president of AKQA Group and its chief executive is AKQA chief executive Ajaz Ahmed.
The role of Grey London president is understood to concern setting the agency up to deliver the best creative innovation for clients, inject a entrepreneurial spirit, and create an inclusive and diverse culture.听
Houston said: 鈥淟aura is a fabulous human being. Her creative skills, matched by her entrepreneurial and digital background, plus everything that she is giving back to the community, make her a special individual.鈥澛
In the wake of Panczyk's departure the agency鈥檚 senior management team has been working with Grey Europe CEO Eduardo Maruri. The team consists of Jordan Bambach and Campopiano as well as chief strategy officer Raquel Chicourel, who joined last year from M&C Saatchi, chief people officer Jacquie King, and chief financial officer Liam Murray.听
Jordan Bambach鈥檚 promotion is the latest sign that parent company WPP has pulled back from plans to retire the 104-year-old Grey brand quickly.
WPP announced the merger of Grey with digital agency AKQA in November to form AKQA Group but, two days later, said it would keep the Grey name 鈥渇or some time鈥, following pushback from some clients, notably Procter & Gamble.听聽
WPP went on to show Grey as a standalone brand, alongside AKQA, Ogilvy, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, in a presentation about its creative agencies at an investor day hosted by Mark Read, chief executive of WPP, in December.
In a sign that Jordan Bambach鈥檚 star was on the rise, she was name-checked and pictured in the investor presentation as one of nine recent WPP hires that showed its 鈥渃ommitment to creativity鈥.
Grey鈥檚 global revenues fell 2.4% on an annual compound basis between 2015 and 2019, Read revealed at the investor day, as he explained how all of WPP鈥檚 creative agencies need greater digital capabilities to stay relevant.
Jordan Bambach was previously the CCO at Mr President, a creative shop she co-founded in 2012. She has a background at digital agencies, including Deepend, Glue, Dare and LBi, and she is also co-founder of women鈥檚 networking group SheSays.
Jordan Bambach said: 鈥淒iverse ideas, backgrounds, skills and experiences, and an open platform to express them, are what make for breakthrough creative work. And it鈥檚 this work that creates business growth for our clients. Since day one, I鈥檝e been focussed on putting this principle at the heart of creative 鈥 I鈥檓 here to help everyone make the best work of their lives and to embrace difference. As a studio, we鈥檙e collaborating more, sharing and inspiring each other more, and igniting entrepreneurial energy."
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