It was announced earlier this week that O'Malley, global business director at the agency, was to leave WPP. His departure sparked a fall in the advertising giant's shares, which fell more than 20p to 380p, over fears that his departure could affect the group's relationship with Ford.
Ford is WPP's single largest client and accounts for more than 7% of the group's turnover. However, O'Malley's departure has had no effect on the business.
His replacement on the global business is a veteran on the account. Neall has 15 years' experience at WPP working at JWT Detroit from 1984 to 1996, serving in account management positions on all Ford car and truck brands. He has also headed the business in Europe from the end of 1996 until early 2000, where it is handled by JWT sister agency Ogilvy & Mather.
Neall rose to the post of senior partner and executive management director on Ford in the US. During his tenure, WPP's Ford division achieved four successive number one brand sales rankings for Ford cars and trucks.
In his new role, reporting to Peter Schweitzer, president and CEO of JWT, Neall will oversee the global Ford advertising account, the agency's largest, including Ford cars and Ford trucks, and such brand names as Ford Mustang, Focus and Thunderbird cars; Ford F-Series trucks and Ford Explorer and Escape SUVs.
Steve Lyons, president of Ford Division, said: "The team at J Walter Thompson always has done a fantastic job supporting Ford. We're confident they will continue to develop innovative new communications under Sean's leadership."
JWT serves Ford in nearly 60 countries and marks the 60th anniversary of its partnership with Ford this year during the carmaker's centennial.
"Sean brings a huge reservoir of experience from his 25-year career in automotive marketing, more than half that time spent at J Walter Thompson. His leadership skills and strategic expertise will complement the creative vision of Tom Cordner, our executive creative director. We are confident this partnership has the energy and passion to leverage JWT talent toward producing the finest brand-building work of any major agency," Schweitzer said.
Since leaving WPP in 2000, Neall was most recently vice-president of European operations and global account management for Urban Science Applications Inc.
He is a graduate of Oberlin College and was a Rockefeller Scholar at Yale University and Yale Law School.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .