MediaCom USA Snags ZenithOptimedia Star Tom Cijffers to Lead Client Service

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Sep 23, 2015, 05:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- MediaCom USA announced today that it has recruited former ZenithOptimedia UK Managing Director, Tom Cijffers, as its new Chief Client Officer.

Cijffers spent the past 16 years in roles of increasing responsibility at ZenithOptimedia (ZO). Most recently, he was promoted from MD, Client Service for ZO Worldwide to MD Zenith UK, at which time he became a member of the combined UK and worldwide management board. Upon joining ZO in 1999, Cijffers took on primary responsibility for working with clients to develop their media, advertising and brand strategies, and implementing them throughout the ZO network. His category experience spans multiple industries, including CPG, automotive, financial services, personal technology and consumer durables. Clients have included Reckitt Benckiser, Mars, Toyota/Lexus and Zurich Financial.

Of his new appointment, Cijffers said, "I've certainly seen my share of opportunities in my years at Zenith, but – when MediaCom came calling – the opportunity to play on the largest stage there is, for the agency that is leading the transformation of the global media industry, was just too enticing to ignore. MediaCom USA, in particular, has been able to deliver exceptional bottom-line results by creating both the content and connections needed to optimize a client's entire communications system, and I look forward to bringing this more holistic view to our entire roster."

"If I revealed how many candidates I saw for this role, no one would believe me," remarked Sasha Savic, CEO MediaCom USA. "We have an appetite to be the best, for the best marketers in the world; it's just that simple. Tom was the person whom we believed could both inspire and help our clients execute on the great digital, media, analytics, content and creative strategies that we know will transform their businesses."

Both Advertising Age and Adweek named MediaCom USA "Media Agency of the Year" for its 2014 performance, pointing to the agency's commitment to filling out its senior management team with top talent from both within and outside the media business. Cijffers' hire is only the latest addition to a team that currently includes client-side executives and leaders from creative shops, publishers and digital agencies.

Cijffers and his family have relocated to New York, and his appointment is effective immediately. He fills a role vacated by Adam Komack, who became MediaCom's Global Account Director on Dell early this year.

About MediaCom
MediaCom is the "The Content + Connections Agency," working to produce a step change in its clients' businesses by leveraging their brands' entire system of communications across paid, owned and earned channels. MediaCom delivers not just individual channel silo efficiencies, but also connected communications effectiveness by developing and optimizing content as the fuel that drives high-performing systems.

MediaCom is one of the world's leading media communications specialists, with billings exceeding US$33 billion (source: RECMA 2015). It employs 6,000 people in 125 offices across 100 countries around the globe, with a client roster that includes P&G, VW Group, Dell and Universal. In 2015, MediaCom was recognised by RECMA as the leading global agency network in its Network Diagnostics report, and received multiple Media Agency of the Year honors. The agency was recently named Global Agency of the Year at the 2015 M&M Global Awards and captured six Media Lions at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, making it the top performer among all global media agency networks.

MediaCom is a member of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and part of GroupM, WPP's consolidated media investment management arm.

For more information on MediaCom USA, visit www.mediacomusa.com.

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About GroupM
GroupM is the leading global media investment management operation serving as the parent company to WPP media agencies including Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom and Maxus, each global operations in their own right with leading market positions. GroupM's primary purpose is to maximize performance of WPP's media agencies by operating as leader and collaborator in trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. GroupM's focus is to deliver unrivaled marketplace advantage to its clients, stakeholders and people. Discover more about us online at www.groupm.com.

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SOURCE MediaCom USA