The announcement was made by GroupM Global CEO Irwin Gotlieb, who said Schmidt-Vogel will move into his new role in the coming weeks, pending confirmation of his successor at MediaCom. In his new role, Schmidt-Vogel will be responsible for all GroupM trading activities and decisions, with an emphasis on developing best practices in trading operations across all regions worldwide. He will report to Gotlieb and GroupM COO Rupert Day.
Gotlieb said that over the past three years, GroupM has been developing strong local trading operations that demonstrate the intelligent application of scale through the construction of new trading models that maximise client benefit. "Alexander pioneered tactical and implementation planning practices and was the first to exploit the capability to improve client pricing in the marketplace," said Gotlieb. "We are delighted that he has agreed to lead GroupM's trading operations around the world."
Schmidt-Vogel was a founding manager of MediaCom and over the past 22 years played a key role in the company's growth. Since its founding, MediaCom has become a leading global media service agency, with billings of almost US$18 billion and with offices in 86 countries.
In 2002, Schmidt-Vogel was named MediaCom's Worldwide CEO with offices in New York and Europe after serving as chairman and CEO of MediaCom Europe since 1996. Prior to that he served as CEO of MediaCom Germany since 1988. He started his career as a media trainee at Gramm & Grey in Düsseldorf in 1976 before being named the agency's head of planning in 1980 and media director in 1986.
"After 32 years with the company, and after 22 years building the MediaCom network around the globe, I feel a tremendous passion for this new challenge," said Schmidt-Vogel. "Value creation for our clients through sophisticated and new trading models will be the backbone of all future offline and online communication. I'm excited at the prospect of further strengthening the best and largest trading organisation in the world."
Schmidt-Vogel will continue to be based in Berlin, Germany
