• Adweek, Monday, August 31, 2009 10:09 PM

PHD has named Robert Harwood-Matthews executive vice president of PHD West and managing director of the media agency's Los Angeles and San Francisco operations. Sue Taylor, managing director of PHD in L.A. for two years, is leaving at the end of September.

Harwood-Matthews was formerly TBWA global managing director of the Infiniti account. Prior to that, he was CEO at TBWA/Manchester in the U.K. In explaining the move to hire an executive without a strict media-agency background, PHD CEO Scott Hagedorn says, "Defining the agency's vision both internally and externally, driving it, and delivering on it -- that was our mandate for this position. Rob has the record and the results that made him the right choice."

Harwood-Matthews says, "With all due respect to the creative product -- I believe that at this moment in time, media is where the action is." PHD West clients include Mitsubishi North America, Overture Films and the California Lottery.

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