GroupM CEO Brian Lesser unveiled a new global leadership structure and team Tuesday for the media investment arm of holding company WPP.

Lesser spoke with ADWEEK earlier this month and said he was in a “massive hurry” to advance GroupM’s business, adding that he believes GroupM must shift from “a collection of companies to one company” by streamlining planning, activation, and measurement methodologies with data and technology at its core, and that it will need to reorganize and acquire assets to streamline its strategies but not simply for scale.

Lesser returned to GroupM last September following stints leading AT&T’s new ad business and serving as CEO of data firm InfoSum. Lesser had been GroupM’s North American CEO from 2015 through 2017.

Emily Del Greco will join GroupM in February as global chief operating officer, overseeing operations, partnerships, strategy, corporate development, and the company’s activation and investment practices. She had been a partner at McKinsey & Co. for the past five years.

Adam Gerhart, CEO of WPP’s Mindshare and a 20-year veteran of the agency, will become global chief client officer at GroupM, overseeing major accounts and client engagement strategy across all agencies globally, and working in close partnership with WPP.

Toby Jenner, global president, GroupM clients, was named global chief business officer, responsible for the company’s to-market proposition, growth, marketing, and cross-WPP integration projects.

Global COO and 19-year GroupM veteran Mark Patterson is now global president, markets and business operations, overseeing the Asia-Pacific and Latin America markets and driving business initiatives including the expansion of the company’s offshore capabilities and its entertainment and sports offerings.

GroupM said there are no departures from the company because of the changes that were announced Tuesday, and global chief financial officer Stuart Diamond, global chief people officer Marie-Claire Barker, North America CEO Sharb Farjami, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) CEO Josh Krichefski, and Latin America CEO Cesar Recalde will continue their roles as part of its global leadership team.

The company added that global agency operations will be managed by a president for global client solutions who will oversee delivery for global and multinational clients at each agency.

Criteo’s new CEO has his work cut out for him.

When Michael Komasinski takes over for Megan Clarken on Feb. 15, the executive will be faced with a unique set of challenges.

When Clarken became CEO in 2019, retail media was a considerably smaller space with fewer players involved. While Clarken successfully moved part of Criteo’s business into retail media and away from retargeting, Criteo now has significantly more competition as retail media has become a booming sector with every retailer, agency, and adtech company wanting a piece of the market.

The industry is also facing slower growth, holding company shakeups, increased M&A action, and the reality that Criteo’s revenue still largely comes from cookie-dependent retargeting. Retail media represents 22% of Criteo’s revenue.

Criteo is the largest independent adtech player in retail media with a market cap of $2.1 billion at the time of publishing this article.

Multiple analysts and experts that ADWEEK spoke to raised a central question about Komasinski’s hire: What’s Criteo’s endgame? How Komasinski shepherds the firm through these challenges could help bring that into focus.

“There are massive growth opportunities in media today with new advancements in AI and a global rise in ecommerce, which are driving hyper-personalized consumer touchpoints across more content and devices than ever before,” Komasinski said in a statement announcing his appointment. “[Criteo] has built incredible assets in AI over the years to deliver compelling commerce solutions for our clients and drive shareholder value.”

Criteo did not respond to a request for additional comment.

Ad holding companies are drawing lines over retail media

Fresh off of five years at Dentsu, Komasinski brings an agency perspective to Criteo that could serve the firm well as M&A action shifts the dynamics between retail adtech firms and holding companies.

“Most in the [retail media network] space are looking to improve agency partnerships,” one agency executive told ADWEEK. “Criteo has been ahead there.”

Omnicom’s proposed takeover of IPG, announced in December, would cluster more retail media tech into the combined holding company thanks to a series of acquisitions including Flywheel, Acxiom, and Intelligence Node.

If the deal goes through, analysts and experts previously told ADWEEK that the IPG-Omnicom retail media business would have a more competitive edge against Publicis Groupe, which has also invested heavily in retail media tech acquisitions over the last several years.

With more mergers and acquisitions predicted throughout 2025, Komasinski could help to foster agency relationships at a critical moment for Criteo.

“We don’t yet know Criteo’s long-term ambition,” Dan Maguire, director of retail media at Gale, told ADWEEK. “Is it to become another CitrusAd? Mars? Flywheel?”

Retail media growth is slowing

While retail media spend is projected to hit $60 billion this year, according to Emarketer, growth has begun to slow.

“Retail media growth is slowing due to some of the largest players reaching saturation on their owned properties,” Sarah Marzano, principal analyst at Emarketer, told ADWEEK.

At the same time, the retail media space is becoming more crowded. Retailers and ecommerce businesses are continuing to launch new ad businesses, while adtech companies are emerging or pivoting to solve the challenges advertisers face when juggling dozens—if not hundreds—of different retail media networks.

Amazon, for example, is launching a new product that will help retailers stand up advertising businesses and find potential advertisers. Up until now, Amazon has solely sold ads on behalf of itself.

“For the long-tail retail media networks to find success, they must overcome advertiser gripes with navigating a fragmented landscape,” Marzano said. “If Criteo can position itself as a salve for retail media networks and advertisers seeking efficiency and scale it will carve out a valuable role in the future growth of retail media.”

Slower growth could also bring more M&A action to retail media, noted Andrew Lipsman, independent retail media analyst.

“There is likely to be consolidation [and] aggregation of retail media networks over the next couple years as many come to terms with the fact that they’re not independently viable,” Lipsman said. “Criteo is well-positioned for this tailwind.”

Most of Criteo’s business still relies on cookies

While Clarken has shepherded Criteo into the era of retail media, powering 225 retail media programs for companies like Target, JCPenney, and Walgreens, the majority of the company’s revenue comes from cookie-dependent ad retargeting.

One of Komasinski’s challenges will be to scale up revenue from retail media as the industry moves away from cookies.

“Criteo’s performance will increasingly depend on its ability to successfully diversify beyond cookie-reliant retargeting,” Marzano said. “Looking ahead we can expect a continued focus on retail media and other privacy-focused solutions, but there may be a period where overall top-line growth is subdued.”

In this episode of the Brave Commerce podcast, Kris Malkoski, CEO of learning and development at American manufacturing giant Newell Brands, joins Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter to share her approach to driving transformation and growth. 

Drawing from her extensive experience as a business leader, Kris explains her four key operating principles for building successful brands. She highlights how Newell Brands is tackling industry challenges by staying consumer-focused and embracing innovation. 

From launching standout products like the Sharpie Creative Marker to leveraging insights to meet unmet needs, she details how her team is setting new standards for growth and differentiation.

Whether you’re navigating brand strategy or looking for fresh approaches to innovation, Kris’ insights offer actionable inspiration for excelling in today’s dynamic marketplace.

Key takeaways:

Key Operating Principles: How knowing users, trends, and product differentiation drives growth.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities: How data and innovation can help navigate and capitalize on headwinds.

Consumer-Centric Innovation: How understanding unmet needs and leveraging consumer insights can drive breakthrough product launches.

Criteo has a new chief executive officer in Michael Komasinski. He’ll take over from Megan Clarken on Feb. 15.

The retail media-focused adtech platform has been searching for a new top executive since August when Clarken announced her plans to retire within the following 12 months. She’ll continue to serve in an advisory role during the transition, Criteo said in a statement.

Komasinski will join Criteo from Dentsu, where he’s spent the last five years in various executive roles, the most recent of which is CEO for the Americas. Before that, he held various high-level positions at Merkle, a media company that was acquired by Dentsu in 2020. His resume also includes stints at Razorfish, Schawk Retail Marketing, and Nielsen.

The announcement comes just after Amazon released a new self-service retail adtech product that will compete with firms like Criteo. Retail media has been on a growth tear over the last several years as retailers aim to monetize the data they’ve collected on customers via loyalty programs and purchase history. Emarketer predicts that retail media spend will hit $60 billion this year, up 20.2% year-over-year, and making it the fastest growing ad channel in the U.S.

Criteo, one of the biggest purveyors of the adtech that powers those businesses, has become a juggernaut in the space partnering with over 200 retailers in varying capacities.

Given its reach, industry leaders have been keeping close tabs on Criteo’s search for a new CEO. One expert said that Komasinski’s agency background could be a plus for Criteo. Criteo’s competitors include firms owned by ad agency giants like Publicis Groupe and Interpublic Group.

“Having someone at the helm with an agency mind is good when Criteo is really the somewhat only neural player between Amazon, Google, and Meta,” one retail adtech executive told ADWEEK in response to the news.

“It shows them really pushing back into an agency growth strategy versus tech,” the executive continued, noting that it’ll be interesting to watch how Komasinski’s background shapes Criteo’s go-to-market approach moving forward.

Komasinski’s appointment is the conclusion of a “comprehensive search process,” said Rachel Picard, chair of Criteo’s board of directors, in a statement. Picard called Komasinski, “the right leader to spearhead the next phase of the company’s AI-fueled transformation and vision as the world’s leading commerce media platform.”

JCPenney and SPARC Group joined forces to form Catalyst Brands, a new combination of iconic retail brands uniting Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica with JCPenney and its exclusive private brands, which include Arizona, Liz Claiborne, and Stafford.

The new company also revealed that it sold off the U.S. operations of Reebok and is exploring strategic options for the operations of Forever 21.

Marisa Thalberg, who joined JCPenney in a consulting chief marketing officer role last October, will serve as chief customer and marketing officer of Catalyst Brands.

Thalberg announced the position in a LinkedIn post Thursday, and told ADWEEK she was confident in the skills she honed through decades of senior marketing roles, but balanced it with humility. “You come in knowing there’s a lot you don’t know,” she said.

Prior to joining JCPenney, Thalberg had been chief marketing and communications officer at United Parks & Resorts—parent company of theme park brands including Aquatica, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, and Sesame Place—since April 2023. Before that, she held senior marketing roles at Lowe’s and Taco Bell.

JCPenney stressed when announcing Thalberg’s hire last October that it was a consulting CMO role, and not a fractional CMO role, and it ultimately gave her the chance to gain a wealth of knowledge about the company and its operations before coming on board full-time.

Thalberg told ADWEEK, “When it works, it becomes a really, really beautiful alchemy. It’s really satisfying to be able to write that follow-up post.”

Her First 90 Days

It has been 90 days since Thalberg joined JCPenney, and while the retailer boasts a rich, 122-year history, she found that “a lot of people don’t have a modern perception of it.”

Thalberg noted its focus on fashion for all ages and all body sizes, telling ADWEEK, “We know how people are feeling about the economy. Most people want really nice things that make them feel good at really great values.”

She added, “There is some real momentum happening at JCPenney, and my goal is to build on that and grow it significantly.”

Introducing Catalyst Brands

Catalyst Brands is a joint venture formed via an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group, along with shareholders Authentic Brands Group, Brookfield, Shein, and Simon Property Group.

The company launches with more than $9 billion of revenue, 1,800 store locations, 60,000 employees, and $1 billion of liquidity, and its combined brands have served over 60 million customers over the past three years.

Marc Rosen will be CEO of Catalyst Brands, with three brand CEOs reporting to him: Michelle Wlazlo, former chief merchandising and supply chain officer at JCPenney; Natalie Levy, continuing her role as brand CEO of Aéropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica; and Ken Ohashi, who will continue leading Brooks Brothers and assume responsibility for Eddie Bauer.

“Taking this collective expertise and going from mono-brand to multi-brand can really leverage our scale,” Thalberg told ADWEEK. “Each individual banner will continue to find the best versions of themselves in the marketplace.”

Former Walmart executive Kevin Harper will join Catalyst Brands as chief operating officer, and the company will be based out of JCPenney’s current headquarters in Plano, Texas, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.

“Our relationships with more than 60 million customers and the deep data we have create a compelling consumer value proposition across our brands,” Rosen said in a statement. “We can design a more personalized shopping experience, offer unified loyalty and credit card programs, and ultimately, cross-sell more effectively. That’s one example of the many benefits we’ll see in this combination. With a clean balance sheet, we’re in great position to move forward.”

Not even the pink aura of Barbie could save the top brass at Warner Bros. Motion Pictures from the effects of the pandemic and the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America strikes, as the studio revealed a shuffle atop its executive ranks Wednesday.

President of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein will now oversee all aspects of the company’s theatrical distribution activities globally, including business strategy, dating, exhibitor relations, sales and administration, and specialty/premium formats.

Warner Bros. also announced the departures of president of worldwide marketing Josh Goldstine, who led the massive promotional effort behind Barbie, and president of international theatrical distribution Andrew Cripps.

Executive vice president of worldwide marketing Dana Nussbaum and executive vp of worldwide marketing strategy Christian Davin will oversee the global marketing team on an interim basis, while executive vp of creative advertising John Stanford will serve as interim head of theatrical creative advertising on behalf of the studio’s upcoming releases.

The company said Wednesday’s moves are part of a reorganization as the overall movie business attempts to bounce back from Covid-19 and the two crippling strikes.

“In building for the future, we have made the decision to realign our business unit with a singular global operation at its center to offer greater alignment for all our team members in the years ahead,” Warner Bros. Entertainment chairman Michael DeLuca and CEO Pam Abdy wrote in an internal memo shared with ADWEEK.

“Creatively, we have the great privilege to partner with some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers across every genre of film, and we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for this team to continue to bring the great movies Warner Bros. has made for over a century to audiences the world over,” they added.

Goldstine joined Warner Bros. in 2021 after seven years with Universal Pictures and, in addition to Barbie, he oversaw its campaigns backing The Batman, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dune, and Wonka.

“For the past several years, I have had the great privilege to work alongside a team whom I deeply admire and who brought their very best to every campaign across every imaginable genre of movie,” he wrote in an internal memo. “From Barbie to Beetlejuice, to Dune and Wonka, your work has been nothing short of inspiring, and I cannot thank you enough for your contributions to the many successes we have shared together.”

Five-year Warner Bros. veteran Cripps added in his memo, “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, through the ravages of Covid and the seismic changes that the industry has seen, but it is the people and the international team that has really made my time here so special … I will be here to help with transition plans but wanted to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you for everything you do day in and day out.”

Jack Bamberger, TikTok U.S.’ general manager of agency business, left the company on Jan. 3, according to a person with direct knowledge.

A second source from an advertising agency told ADWEEK that a TikTok rep confirmed Bamberger’s departure to them.

The move coincides with TikTok’s intensifying challenges, including a potential U.S. ban slated for January 19.

Bamberger did not respond to a request for comment. TikTok declined to comment about Bamberger’s employment.

It is not clear whether TikTok plans to fill Bamberger’s position.

Bamberger joined TikTok in March and resigned in December, according to the first source. He served as the primary liaison between the platform and its advertising partners and was responsible for fostering relationships with major agencies. Before TikTok, Bamberger was a strategic advisor at in-game advertising platform Anzu and previously led global partnerships at Verizon Media.

Bamberger’s exit follows the recent departure of Sameer Singh, TikTok’s head of ad sales for North America.

With the looming threat of a U.S. ban, the platform’s ad business, a critical revenue stream, faces potential disruptions, prompting advertisers to reevaluate their investment in TikTok.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the potential ban on January 10. Meanwhile, TikTok will be at CES this week, where executives will outline strategies for marketers to leverage its platform.

Sameer Singh, TikTok’s North America head of ad sales, is leaving the company, according to an internal memo reviewed by ADWEEK. The announcement comes as the popular video-sharing app faces mounting pressure, with a U.S. ban set to take effect on January 19.

Singh joined ByteDance in 2019 and has been a central figure in steering TikTok’s North American ad business. He will remain with the company until the end of February. Prior to his role at TikTok, Singh served as GroupM’s South Asia CEO.

“Sam will return to India at the end of January and remain available to support the NA team through the end of February,” wrote Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s president of global business solutions, in the memo that was shared with TikTok’s internal sales teams. “Notably, throughout 2024, Sam has led our teams in the U.S and Canada through an unprecedented political environment, dedicated to protecting our incredible users, creators and the business partners that use TikTok every day.”

Singh’s work at TikTok began with overseeing the company’s monetization efforts in India, where he helped manage the aftermath of the country’s ban of the app in 2020, according to the memo.  He also played a key role in expanding TikTok’s presence in markets like Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the Asia Pacific region.

Looking ahead, TikTok plans to “immediately begin the search for a new leader to oversee our NA business,” the memo noted.

Preparing for a potential ban

Singh’s departure comes at a pivotal moment for TikTok, with a U.S. ban looming amid escalating national security concerns. The U.S. government has threatened to ban TikTok unless ByteDance divests from the app, citing fears that the Chinese government could access user data.

The ban’s potential impact on advertisers and creators could be significant. Marketers’ strategies for performance advertising may be disrupted, and it could be harder for people to discover brands. Additionally, the competitive landscape for digital advertising could be reshaped.

The decision has also raised broader questions about the government’s control over tech platforms in terms of the balance between national security and free speech. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on January 10 regarding the potential ban. Meanwhile, TikTok is set to appear at CES next week, where executives will discuss the best ways for marketers to use its platform.

Measurement firm Comscore has appointed Jackelyn Keller as chief marketing officer.

Keller succeeds Tania Yukia, who left in 2023 after helping reposition the brand around the future of media measurement.

The new CMO brings extensive experience in linear TV, streaming, digital and programmatic advertising, as well as product marketing and revenue strategy.

She previously served as global head of product marketing at demand-side platform (DSP) Quantcast. Prior to that, she was head of market intelligence and global product strategy at Samsung Ads, where she helped launch Samsung’s DSP.

“[Keller’s] background in operations, product, and revenue strategy, paired with her exceptional talent for positioning and creating accessible branding, exemplifies our unwavering commitment to empowering our clients in this rapidly evolving media landscape,” said Jon Carpenter, Comscore chief executive officer, in a statement.

Keller has been advising Comscore’s leadership team on positioning, creative strategy, and marketing efforts since September. She has also facilitated new initiatives, including Comscore Data Divas and Barbershop, Beauty and Local Buzz, which will kick off at CES in next week.

At Comscore, Keller is looking forward to “writing the measurement playbook for streaming, local, and national measurement,” she said.

Back in October, Comscore renewed its partnership with VIZIO’s Inscape, allowing the company to continue incorporating smart TV viewership data into its measurement and ratings offerings.

Twenty-seven. That’s how many times I offered a brilliant freelance creative director a full-time job when I was chief creative officer. Twenty-seven times, they said no. 

It drove me crazy. They already freelanced with us regularly, loved the team, crushed the briefs, and (apparently) tolerated me just fine. The money was great. What was the problem? 

When we finally got to the bottom of it, their answer illuminated everything wrong with how agencies develop talent: “I don’t want to deal with clients. I don’t want to run a piece of business. And I don’t want to manage anyone.” 

In other words, they just wanted to do what they did best—cook up great work. 

Within agencies, we’ve built these rigid departmental structures where career advancement means taking on more responsibilities that often have nothing to do with what made someone exceptional in the first place.

We’re obsessed with making everyone do everything. Got someone brilliant at cultural activations? Great, now make them lead a 360 creative platform. Have a writer who can craft the perfect script? Awesome, put them in charge of managing 10 people and attending status meetings. Excel at brand identity? Here’s a stack of banner ads to oversee. 

It isn’t just wrong, it’s wasteful. We’re taking our best specialists and turning them into mediocre generalists. And the solution isn’t complicated: Build teams, not departments. 

Think about any great sports team. They win because they have players who excel in their positions and complement each other. They don’t force their star quarterback to play defense. They don’t ask a guy who hit 50 homers and stole 50 bases to pitch. Wait, bad example. You get the gist. 

So why do we keep doing this in advertising? 

Instead of building hierarchies where everyone needs to be a jack-of-all-trades to advance, we should be creating flexible teams of specialists who are beyond brilliant at their craft. Want a massive cultural moment? Bring in the earned media virtuoso. Need a platform that will define your brand for the next decade? Get the strategist who’s done it twenty times. Looking for innovation? Tap the person who’s launched billion-dollar products. 

But here’s the key: Don’t make any of them do all of it. 

When I finally wrote that CD a custom contract—no clients, no management, just pure creative work—they took the job. Years later, after I’d left, they were still there. Why wouldn’t they be? It was the perfect role for their talents. 

The future of our industry isn’t about building departments of generalists. It’s about assembling teams of specialists who complement each other’s strengths. Yes, it requires more flexibility. Yes, it means rewriting some HR policies. And yes, it might make your org chart look messy. 

But the payoff? Better work. Happier talent. More efficiency. And a whole lot less super-unique, polygonal pegs being shoved into round holes.

It’s time to stop forcing people up a ladder they never wanted to climb—don’t tell Jalen Brunson he needs to play center to advance his basketball career. Let’s build teams that let experts be experts. 

The future belongs to the specialists. The only question is whether your agency will be smart enough to let them play their position.