- GroupM has appointed Alycia Mason as CEO of its Wavemaker U.S. agency, effective at the tip of July, according to a press release.
- Mason joins the WPP group from McDonald’s, where she most recently served as field vice chairman overseeing hundreds of stores. In 2022, the chief was named the burger chain’s first U.S. customer experience officer, leading digital transformation across apps, delivery platforms and in-store kiosks.
- Mason is joining Wavemaker’s global leadership team and can report to GroupM North America CEO Sharb Farjami. The hire comes as GroupM tries to reinvent itself for a more data-driven era of selling.
Mason returns to her agency roots with the jump to Wavemaker, a media-buying shop inside WPP’s GroupM media behemoth. At McDonald’s, the chief helped steer the advancement of digital capabilities that became crucial to quick-service restaurants throughout the pandemic, including work on apps and third-party delivery services. Earlier in her profession on the Golden Arches, she acted as vice chairman of digital customer experience and media to expand McDonald’s omnichannel operations, leading to improved sales profitability and doubled return-on-investment for media.
That experience could help GroupM because it tries to improve its own sophistication with tech amid sharper business pressures. The firm, which built its repute in an era where TV dominated, is undergoing a restructuring in North America because it shifts off of legacy models and directs more resources toward data-driven marketing and integrated agency solutions, Ad Age previously reported.
Mason’s time at McDonald’s may also higher key her into the needs of clients which can be wrestling with their very own transformations. Chief marketers have been pushed to master different media strategies within the face of signal loss like cookie deprecation and the drive to attach marketing closer to business results. Announcing the hire, GroupM North America CEO Farjami described Mason as a “change agent.”
“Her digital expertise, strategic mindset, brand savvy, and experience leading large, integrated teams make her the best leader to drive growth for Wavemaker U.S.,” Farjamai said of Mason in a press statement. “Her forward-thinking leadership and brand-side perspective shall be invaluable to our entire organization.”
Farjami took on GroupM’s top job in North America in the beginning of the 12 months, replacing Kirk McDonald. He previously led Wavemaker within the region. Farjami has made several other hires, including naming a latest chief operating officer and creating GroupM’s first chief growth officer role in February.
Mason, who spent nearly six years at McDonald’s, is accustomed to the media agency world, having previously worked at Publicis’ Starcom, Omnicom’s OMD and Mindshare, also a part of GroupM. Past clients under her remit have included Kellogg, Kraft, BP, Castrol, JCPenney and Dell. At Wavemaker, Mason will split her time between Chicago and New York.
GroupM’s shakeup comes as parent WPP has been battered by tech spending pullbacks, weakness in markets like China and the loss of enormous accounts. The ad-holding group saw revenue decline 1.4% in Q1. It expects growth to remain flat or at 1% for the total 12 months.
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