Originally published on Campaign.
The Gold winner in this category for Campaign’s Global Agency of the Year Awards is Susanne Grundmann, CEO, OMD Germany.
Susanne Grundmann, CEO of OMD Germany, set out a vision to make the agency the leading media agency in Germany by 2023 – driven not only by billings but also by innovation and talent.
Grundmann says there are three elements needed to attain these goals: a culture of collaboration, empowerment and investing in clients.
While much of the world kept its distance during the pandemic, OMD Germany moved closer together than ever before, transforming a decentralised way of working into professional content communities beyond the boundaries of physical locations, helping to shape a culture of faster knowledge transfer.
Grundmann has driven empowerment with commitment and personal involvement – as sponsor of the global talent management committee, she has grown female leadership and talent. By investing in client relationships, innovation and transformation, new structures for strategy, insights, creation, research and digital expertise have been developed, making OMD Germany a global business driver and centre of excellence for international brands.
She attracted 24 new clients, lowered their churn rate to just 0.2% and made OMD Germany’s most awarded media agency in 2021.
Judges were impressed by Grundmann’s contribution to business growth, the client churn rate and the efforts she put in place to foster a gender-neutral workplace.
Shortlisted:
Adam Gerhart, global CEO, Mindshare Worldwide, UK
Bala Pomaleh, CEO, IPG Mediabrands, Malaysia
Luke Smith, CEO and co-founder, Croud, UK
Natalie Bell, CEO, MG OMD, UK
Nick Lawson, global CEO, MediaCom, UK
Sue-Anne Lim, CEO, Trapper, Malaysia
