Omnicom Media Group is launching a third agency network, a data-driven offering called Hearts & Science that will combine what it calls “expert” media planning and buying capabilities with services including shopper marketing, marketing innovation and content activation.
The network plans to open a 40-person Toronto office at 2 Bloor St. W. that will be headed by managing director Terry Horton, who previously held the same role at sister Omnicom shop Touché!
Hearts & Science’s global CEO Scott Hagedorn said in a statement that Horton’s extensive retail experience, combined with his expertise in multi-channel marketing and the results achieved for blue chip brands in his 18-year career, made him the “ideal choice” to lead the network’s Canadian office.
Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm said that Hearts & Science gives the company three distinct agency brands: OMD is the world’s largest and most creatively awarded media agency, while PHD is a leader in communications planning.
The new network is launching with CPG giant Procter & Gamble as its first client. Omnicom announced its intention to launch a third network after winning the bulk of P&G’s North American media assignment late last year.
In Canada, the P&G account is split between Omnicom and the Dentsu Aegis Network, although a company spokesperson told Marketing last year that Omnicom would serve as its primary agency, supporting the “majority” of its consumer categories.
Former Cossette Media Toronto GM Jeff Berry is succeeding Horton at Touché! “Jeff’s 20-plus years in the business can be summed up in three succinct words: Passionate, creative, competitive,” said Omnicom Media Group Canada CEO Fred Forster of Berry, who led Cossette’s Telus, General Mills and Whirlpool accounts. “These are qualities that align perfectly with Touché!”
Cossette announced this week that Brooke Leland has taken over for Berry as senior vice-president, GM for the independent shop’s English Canada operations.
Prior to being named Hearts & Science CEO, Hagedorn served as the founding CEO of the company’s data and analytics platform Annalect for five years.
Hagedorn said that the use of data-driven marketing and applied audience analytics have gone from being a fringe practice to a core element of mass media, adding that the industry needs to be aware of the role of content in creating connections between brands and consumers.
Kathleen Brookbanks is also leaving Hearts & Science’s sister network OMD to join the fledgling network as its chief operating officer.
Hearts & Science’s New York office at 7 World Trade Center will open with a staff of 175, although Omnicom says that number will grow to more than 300 by the beginning of the third quarter.
The company also plans to open additional Hearts & Science offices in “key markets” outside of North America in the second half of the year, with additional executive hires recruited from what Omnicom describes as “leading companies” across the technology, publishing and agency industries announced in the coming weeks.
Annalect’s former chief operating officer Slavi Samardzija will succeed Hagedorn as global CEO, while former chief marketing officer Erin Matts becomes North American CEO.
