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MediaCom has named Josh Krichefski global chief operating officer, in addition to his role as chief executive of EMEA.

Krichefski’s promotion is the first appointment that Nick Lawson, global CEO of MediaCom, has made since taking charge of the WPP media agency in July.

Lawson, who was previously EMEA CEO and was later promoted to global COO, first recruited Krichefski to MediaCom in 2011. 

“He really understood our culture right from the start,” Lawson, who joined MediaCom in 1991, said, adding that “I can’t think of anyone better” to take on the global COO role.

“I need somebody at a global level who can support us on all of our global clients and teams and marketing and new business,” Lawson said.

MediaCom’s clients include Adidas, Mars, Procter & Gamble, Shell, Sky and Tesco.

Lawson and Krichefski, who are both British, will also work on “ambitious plans for cross-company integration with WPP and [its media buying subsidiary] Group M”, the company said.

MediaCom, which has its headquarters in London, has traditionally been strongest in EMEA, where it had almost 13% share among media agencies, according to a 2019 estimate by COMvergence.

The network had a share of only about 5% in North America, 9.5% in Asia-Pacific and 11% in Latin America.

Lawson said MediaCom wants “to grow in the other regions” beyond EMEA and Krichefski will spend “a lot of his time on America and APAC”. 

But Lawson maintained the agency was already “very well-balanced” across the world, particularly compared with some other global networks.

MediaCom currently has global hubs in London, New York, Miami and Singapore.

Krichefski became EMEA CEO in September 2019. He was previously CEO of MediaCom UK, Britain’s biggest media agency, during which it won Agency of the Year at the 2018 Media Week Awards.

He also pioneered a mental-health initiative, Mental Health Allies, to support staff – evidence that Krichefski “demonstrates quite a lot of bravery in everything he does”, according to Lawson.

“Josh’s promotion will come as no surprise to the many clients and colleagues who have worked with him over the years,” Lawson said.

“Josh is a genuinely world-class act. He brings forward-thinking ideas and rich expertise to our clients, helping to continually grow and improve their brands‘ performance. 

“For our people, Josh’s experience of fostering and encouraging an incredible ‘people first’ culture, that has diversity and inclusion at its heart, will prove invaluable to our global network.”

Krichefski added: “I’ve always been inspired by the people at MediaCom and our ability to deliver work that transforms our clients’ businesses. My focus will be on continuing to drive our culture and capacity to do so.”

MediaCom was ranked fourth-largest media agency network behind OMD, Mindshare and Carat in COMvergence’s most recent global rankings.

Media billings have plunged since March because of Covid-19 and WPP has warned investors that, like other agency groups, it has been “materially impacted”.