Leah Nosnik Meranus has been named Chief Growth Officer for Initiative U.S., a new position at the agency. It’s the first senior management hire
at the agency since the arrival of Peter Mears as the shop’s new North American president in early February.
Meranus is tasked with devising business development strategies and
processes to boost revenue growth at the agency. In addition to new business pitches, she will focus on organic growth efforts, and prospecting and will manage the shop’s relationships with
consultants and outside agencies.
Mears credited Meranus with understanding “how to communicate an agency’s strengths to potential clients.”
Meranus joins the
Interpublic Group media shop from competitor MediaCom, a unit of WPP’s GroupM, where she was a senior partner and director of business development.
The move reunites Meranus with both
Mears and Matt Seiler, who she worked for earlier at Omnicom’s PHD. At the time, Seiler, now global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, was North American CEO of PHD, while Mears ran the agency’s
communications planning practice before being named director of global accounts.
Meranus will report to both Mears at Initiative and Jennifer Hohman, executive vice president and managing
director of new business development at Mediabrands, IPG’s media asset oversight arm.
Mears joined Initiative last month after serving as CEO of Mediabrands Canada. His appointment at
Initiative was part of a wider shakeup that led to new global and North American leadership at both Initiative and sister media shop UM.
Commenting on her new role, Meranus described both
Mears and Seiler as mentors and said the opportunity to rejoin them was “too good to pass up.”
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