Toby Jenner, global CEO of Wavemaker and now the global president of GroupM clients, said that the “power of people and teams” make the good times good, and will see the holding company’s agencies and clients through tough times.
Speaking to B&T’s Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, Jenner explained what his new role will entail and what his clients want from GroupM’s media agencies.
Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham: Firstly, congrats on your expanded role! You’ve retained your Wavemaker responsibilities, how can you juggle both?
Toby Jenner: The brilliant people I have around me at both Wavemaker and GroupM are one reason. We’ve built great teams who support each other and me. We’ve also simplified our business model, this has been ongoing throughout the last four years and has been accelerated in the last 12 months. As a result, we now have less duplication, more agility and consistency. One such example is our globally aligned product team, driving our needs around the world. The whole simplification project has freed up a lot of time… hopefully!
GG: Growth is paramount and Wavemaker has been smashing it on the new business front, are new business learnings transferrable to your new holding company role?
TJ: I think over the years we’ve had a pretty good track record on the new business front, so I’m sure we’ll find great learnings from across the group at EssenceMediacom and Mindshare as well as Wavemaker. The trick is to codify them into your daily ways of pitching. So yes, lots of transferable skills.
GG: As an industry, we aren’t great at marketing our own brands, how can we be better?
TJ: By keeping it simpler. CMOs and CEOs are busy people. They don’t have time to wade through our complexity. I’m a big fan of Simon Sinek and his why, how, what model.
GG: In tough economic times, what is the one thing we can do to elevate your position with your big global client base?
TJ: Demonstrate the growth we can provide as an industry. Only our industry can uncover consumer segments that buy more or are new to the brand through data-driven consumer experiences and then activate against them to deliver growth.
GG: On reflection any little gems from your Oz experience that stay with you today on the world stage?
The power of people and teams and the energy that they provide you through both good and tough times.
