Independent media agency the7stars has appointed one of the industry's most experienced media buyers – Marc Bignell – to the new role of commercial director. He will take up the position in January.
Bignell is best known for a 20-year career at Omnicom, where he was worldwide chief investment officer and, before that, EMEA buying director.
More recently he served as Group M’s global head of trading, and has worked for both agency collective Miroma as chief commercial officer, and Yahoo, as vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
He is the older brother of Publicis Media’s investment chief (PMX CEO), Steve Bignell.
At the7stars, Bignell will report to chief executive Liam Mullins and be responsible for implementing “innovative trading solutions that drive performance for advertisers”.
“We are extremely proud and excited to have Marc join the7stars,” Mullins said. “He adds heaps of experience and unrivalled commercial prowess to our team. Marc will help to ensure that we continue to deliver our unique offering of transparency and neutrality, alongside market leading pricing.
“He's a heavy hitter and very well known. Importantly, I've not met anyone who has a bad word to say about him. One of the reasons why we hired Marc is that he is an awesome operator and as we scale our business and grow, we can only benefit from his understanding of the industry and wealth of experience."
Another benefit, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 understands, is that Bignell will be able to help develop the trading operation and team.
At the7stars, the largest independent media agency in the UK, Bignell will be responsible for about £450m in media billings for clients including Kopparberg, TSB, Suzuki, Entain, First Rail Holdings (Great Western Railway, South Western Rail and TransPennine Express), Nintendo and Iceland.
“Both as a competitor and as a media owner, I have admired the work of the7stars and their commitment to full transparency for clients whilst delivering best in market media solutions,” Bignell said. “I am looking forward to working with the team at the7stars and I can’t wait to get stuck in and continue that mission."
The agency recently partnered Google to overhaul its audio visual media planning to better align with YouTube.
.jpg)
.jpg)