Mindshare's Antony Young Joins Water Cooler Group

Antony Young, the former CEO of Mindshare North America, is joining the Water Cooler Group, the oversight company of several small agencies including Media Storm, the media agency with offices in New York and Stamford, CT.

Young transitioned out of the Mindshare NA CEO job in July when former Digitas executive Colin Kinsella was named to the post. At the time the agency said Young was shifting his focus to global business projects and development, a role seen by insiders as a placeholder position until the well-regarded media agency veteran found a new spot elsewhere.

At Water Cooler Group Young will help manage a handful of specialist shops. In addition to the 12-year old Media Storm, those agencies include creative services shop Maude, which opened in 2008 and Bolt, formed in 2009 and that specializes in interactive ads. There’s also a social media shop called Hip Genius.

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Before joining Mindshare in 2011, Young was CEO of Optimedia USA, part of Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia media agency network.

Commenting on the move Young told the New York Times, which broke the story Sunday that “there are clients and frankly agency people who are looking for an alternative” to the approach taken by big holding company agencies.”

“We’re trying to be a challenge to the big agency model,” Craig Woerz, a managing partner at both Water Cooler and Media Storm, told the Times. 

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