Interpublic Group of Cos. agency UM has appointed Sasha Savic global CEO, taking him back to the agency that started his advertising career in the Czech Republic in 1993.

“I started with them in Eastern Europe when I had a war in the country where I’m from, so I got a chance from them to rebuild my life,” said Savic, who was born in Bosnia. “For me, this is like coming back home.”

Savic most recently served as global chief innovation officer at WPP's Mediacom after serving as U.S. CEO for the shop for nearly a decade. Mediacom has since merged with Essence to form EssenceMediacom, part of WPP's media investment arm GroupM. EssenceMediacom is now the largest media agency network in the world.

In his new post, Savic takes on the role Eileen Kiernan vacated when she became global CEO of IPG Mediabrands in 2022. Based in New York, Savic will report directly to Kiernan. 

Savic will now oversee strategy, product, operations and management of clients including American Express, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co., Nestlé and Sony. 

“Sasha is a consummate relationship builder who has driven results for some of the world’s most iconic brands,” Kiernan said in a statement. “Sasha’s love of the business complements our strong, values-driven global culture, and his will to win and commitment to excellence will supercharge how we show up in the marketplace.”

Savic has three decades of experience with media, serving as chief operating officer at Havas Media Group N.A. and holding leadership roles at McCann New York and Starcom Worldwide.

“After 10 years of being a U.S. CEO, it was a natural step to seek to try to do this globally,” said Savic, who left Mediacom late last year before the merger with Essence. “I wish [Mediacom] all the best, but I’m super excited now to build a winning mentality at UM like I was building at Mediacom.”  

Savic’s main focus as he takes the helm is turning UM into more of a technology company and less a traditional media company, leveraging the agency’s data capabilities to better inform client strategy.

Ten years ago, $100 million of work would be done by three to five large companies, mostly driven by TV, Savic said. But today, $100 million of work could be done in 50 or 60 smaller digital campaigns.

“Complexity went up 10 times, the need for people went up six times and fees went up 1.6 times, so the math is challenging,” he said. Savic believes a higher level of automation is needed to be successful. 

“The availability of data is so vast that machines can do much more with data than people,” he added. “When you’re managing literally hundreds of campaigns it’s very stressful, very mentally demanding, and the industry is losing young talent because their first two or three years is the industry is too hard.”

Building an inclusive and connected workplace culture is also important to Savic, who will continue UM’s work on diversity, marketplace equity, media responsibility and sustainability.

“It doesn’t matter how a company is connected globally, I think we can always do a better job in building one powerful team,” Savic said, adding that being a well-connected company allows teams to work quicker, smarter and cheaper because it reduces redundancies. 

Savic said he plans to create an environment that allows talent to collaborate, exchange opinions and sometimes argue to get to “the magic that is the Big Idea.” This means a hybrid work structure that allows for flexibility, but also sees creatives working together in person. 

“I was mesmerized with our ability to learn quickly how to manage the situation that we lived in during COVID, but the fact is there were not too many examples of work that made me jealous during the last three years,” he said. “I want to create work around the world that will make everyone jealous.”