Happy Friday, and welcome back to Agency Brief. This week, we’re taking a look at new CEOs at Dentsu and Grey, as well as a new joint venture from Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment. Want to be included in a future edition? Reach out to [email protected] and [email protected] for consideration.

Two big exec appointments 

Dentsu North America hired Beth Ann Kaminkow as CEO, effective June 16. Kaminkow, who was formerly global chief commerce officer at VML, replaces Michael Komasinski, who left Dentsu in January to join Criteo as the ad tech company’s CEO.

Meanwhile, Grey New York appointed former BBH USA president Agnes Fischer as its CEO, a new role at the WPP agency. Fischer rounds out a new leadership team at Grey New York that also includes Chief Strategy Officer RG Logan and Chief Creative Officer Thiago Cruz. 

ICYMI

Here are a few of Ad Age’s biggest agency stories this week:

• How Omnicom plans to save $750 million a year after buying IPG
• Publicis plots course in three-horse agency holding company race
• Porsche begins US creative review

So, who’s the top dog?

R3, a consultancy that helps advertisers select agencies, released its data on holding companies’ new business efforts in 2024. Over 4,000 pitches, Publicis Groupe came out on top, followed by WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu and Stagwell. Check out more below. 

Also: R3 acquired by MediaSense

Watch this space

Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment has teamed up with women’s sports talent management firm Always Alpha—co-founded by Allyson Felix, one of the most decorated track and field athlete in history—to launch a full-service management agency dedicated to female athletes and their commercial partners. The new entity doesn’t yet have a name. 

Deep Blue, which opened in December 2023, is a women’s sports marketing agency backed by independent shop Giant Spoon. (Former WNBA star Sue Bird is the shop’s first partner and chief strategy officer.) Now, alongside Always Alpha, the agency has established what it describes as a “first-of-its-kind joint venture.” 

The new firm has signed global soccer talent to manage and represent their commercial interests, including Always Alpha client Temwa Chawinga (Malawi, Kansas City Current) and Barbra Banda (Zambia, Orlando Pride) and Niamh Charles (England, Chelsea F.C.), who are repped by Deep Blue, according to the companies. 

Quote of the week

“We will adopt an approach focused on selecting the best individuals from across the organizations, irrespective of their current affiliation.”—Omnicom Group CEO John Wren describing how the holding company will assess job cuts after the IPG merger. 

Just briefly

Publicis Groupe expanded its “Working With Cancer” pledge, creating an awareness campaign that rallies companies to encourage their employees to take the time to get necessary cancer screenings. “Screening Time Off,” backed by brands such as L'Oréal, Merck, Nestlé, Pfizer, Sanofi and UBS, includes a film starring “The Office” actor and breast cancer advocate Jenna Fischer.

Havas acquired commerce agency Channel Bakers. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founded in Los Angeles in 2015, Channel Bakers has 80 employees spread across four continents, including a significant presence in Asia Pacific and Europe, the French holding company said. 

We Are Social appointed Toby Southgate as global group CEO. Southgate, previously global CEO at Forsman & Bodenfors, will lead the agency’s team of 1,200 people spanning four continents. He succeeds co-founder and Group CEO Nathan McDonald, who departed in October. Brett Marchand, CEO of We Are Social’s parent company Plus Company, held the role in the interim.

Horizon Sports & Experiences acquired sports, lifestyle and entertainment marketing agency Strategic. Financial terms were not disclosed. Peter Stern, founder and president of Strategic, will serve as chief growth officer at HS&E, which is part of Horizon Media.