Tim Castree has stepped down as chief executive of Leo Burnett Sydney ahead of an imminent move back to the United States. Leaving after two years in the role, he will be replaced by the agency’s head of strategy, Todd Sampson.
Castree said the move back to the US with his American wife had always been planned. He said the possibility of Sampson replacing him had been around for the last 18 months. “It was very openly communicated inside the company that sometime in 2008 would be the end of my tenure,” he said.
“It’s always been on the cards that Todd Sampson would take over from me. The only thing left to resolve was the timing, and coming into the new year, for a variety of reasons including Todd’s desire and my willingness, now was the right time to make the decision.”
Castree and his wife plan to move to New York. He said he wanted to explore “other opportunities” in the Big Apple but that his future plans were “up in the air”, mainly because being chief executive of an ad agency had been all-consuming. He will fly to New York this week for a number of meetings and interviews.
Finishing up with Leo Burnett at the end of January, Castree expects his next role will be either outside of the advertising industry or tangential to it. “Because I’m definitely moving out of advertising, the next step is quite important - I’m setting up the next half of my career. I’m going to take my time and consider my options fully,” he said.
Castree said he had full confidence in his replacement who joined the agency in 2002. “It’s fantastic that he’s been appointed from the strategic part of the business,” he said. Sampson has worked as a managing partner and head of strategy for over 10 years and is the co-creator of the Earth Hour initiative.
Michelle Kristula-Green, president of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific, said Sampson had been central to the transformation of the business over the last five years. “Todd has a clear vision about how to drive continuous improvement in the business going forward and I look forward to the contributions that he will be making,” she said.
Sampson said his focus was people, product and profit, in that order. “I predict in 2008, Leo Burnett will be one of the most awarded creative agencies in the world. But instead of benchmarking us against other agencies, I look to creative companies like Pixar, Apple and Google for inspiration,” he said. “Equally important, I want to be the best in the world at talent management.”
