Lorraine Hughes, president of OMD Canada, is retiring in July after 35 years in the industry, the last nine of which she spent at the helm of the Omnicom-owned media shop.
“I’ve had an incredibly gratifying 35 years and it’s time for me to reclaim my life and get on with some things I’ve put on hold for quite a while,” Hughes told Marketing in an interview Tuesday morning.
“When you do what I do… it does take up a significant part of your time and your energy and your attention, and that has been very rewarding. But at the same time I think there comes a time when you want to reclaim your life back while you’re able and healthy,” said Hughes.
Hughes will relocate this summer to a house she built on Georgian Bay before heading to Europe for a vacation this fall. She hopes to become involved somehow in the community up north and “find a way to make myself useful” and “give back some of the good fortune that’s been given to me.”
Hughes said OMD Canada is in the process of looking for her replacement, though it’s too early to say if her successor will be from within the agency or an external candidate.
“We’re looking at all of the options,” she said.
Since taking over OMD 2002, the agency has enjoyed strong growth with the addition of clients such as McDonald’s, Wrigley/Mars and Rogers Communications.
Hughes said she’s proud of how the agency has evolved during her tenure, and specifically the role digital and emerging media is now playing within the organization.
“We now have a very large group of digital specialists and that’s kind of transformed the face of the agency and how we looked at things,” she said. “I’m very proud to have been progressive in that area.”
With Hughes in charge, OMD has been awarded many times for its accomplishments in the media buying and planning space. Marketing named it Agency of the Year in 2006, and in 2007 the agency was the most awarded media agency for creativity at the Media Innovation Awards.
Prior to joining OMD Canada, Hughes spent eight years as managing partner at TBWA\Chiat\Day as media director and director of operations.
In 2005, Marketing named Hughes one of the top 100 executives in the industry in Canada, and the following year she was inducted into Sheridan College’s Business Hall of Fame.
