MPG North America names Holliday as CEO
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - MPG North America named Shaun Holliday as its new chief executive on Tuesday, placing him at the top of the media buying and planning agency at a time when the global economic slowdown forces companies to curtail spending on marketing.
Holliday will take over on Jan. 1, succeeding Charlie Rutman, a well-known advertising executive. Rutman helped land clients Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Sears (SHLD.O), and Jones Apparel (JNY.N) since joining MPG North America four years ago.
Rutman will join the MPG North America Advisory Board, an arrangement established by an earlier contract. MPG North America is a division of France's Havas SA (EURC.PA).
Holliday, 50, comes to MPG North America from private equity firm Gryphon Investors, and previously worked at Newell Rubbermaid, Pepsi Bottling Group, Diageo, and Frito-Lay.
He takes the job during a difficult period for the ad industry, with U.S. ad spending next year expected to decline by 3 percent to 4 percent as corporations cut budgets after years of steady growth. (To read more about the media business, visit the Reuters MediaFile blog at blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/) (Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
