April 25, 2008


Former Initiative Media Top Executive to Take the Helm at OMD

OMD North America today announced that Alan Cohen will be joining as CEO of OMD USA, effective June 1. Previously, Mr. Cohen was a top executive at IPG's Initiative Media, where he served as President of Worldwide Innovation and President of Initiative West. He will be located in Los Angeles and report to Page Thompson, CEO OMD North America.

Mr. Cohen is well known for building Initiative's strategic and creative idea factory, which helped clients navigate through digital, new technology and creative marketing programs. This led to well-publicized success in attracting new clients. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in senior management positions in the entertainment business at 20th Century Fox, NBC and ABC, where he was for many years a client of OMD.

"I’m excited to have Alan join our management team. His impressive track record of winning over clients with innovative and breakthrough ideas is a perfect fit with OMD's reputation as the leader in creativity and effectiveness. Alan brings the management capacity and depth that we need to lead more US initiatives so at the same time we can continue to focus on our most important priority: our clients," said Page Thompson, CEO of OMD North America.

Mr. Cohen said, "It feels great to be joining a media company that stands for exactly what I believe in: creative and innovative work that helps drive client business results. OMD's leadership in this area makes it the place I want to be. As a client I really came to understand the spirit and culture of OMD in Los Angeles, and I can't wait to spend time with the other US offices."

According to Daryl Simm, CEO of Omnicom Media Group, "Alan's experience in the entertainment business and his passion for innovative marketing are the kinds of qualities that we can never have too much of in our organization. His talents are highly complementary to the OMD North America management team."

Mr. Cohen was named an Adweek Media All-Star and an Advertising Age Media Maven in 2007.