• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 6, 2015

PHD US President Nathan Brown continues to quickly put his stamp on the agency. Brown, shortly after being named to that post last September, began a management reorganization around regions and practices.

His latest move: the hiring of Mary Carpenter to be president of Chicago-based PHD Midwest, a new role at the agency. Carpenter joins from WPP’s Mindshare where she was managing partner, performance marketing.

Earlier, Brown elevated several PHD executives to presidential roles, including  Briony McCarthy, to president of PHD NY; Anne Marie Schaeffer, to president of PHD West Coast; and Star Kalatzan, to president of the shop’s healthcare practice.

In her new role as head of the Midwest region, Carpenter will oversee a client roster that includes the recently won SC Johnson and Kohler businesses, as well as the HP and Hormel Foods accounts. 

At Mindshare, Carpenter oversaw the performance marketing practice across all North American clients and offices. She also led new business and organic growth initiatives related to acquisition marketing, direct response, and digital commerce.

Prior to taking on the performance marketing lead, Carpenter oversaw the 150-person Chicago office of Mindshare. Before that Carpenter spent more than a decade at Starcom Mediavest Group, where she served as EVP, managing director at SMG Performance Marketing, and also held senior client leadership roles at Starcom USA in Chicago and GM Planworks in Detroit.

Commenting on the hire, Brown said: “Mary’s smarts in performance marketing, coupled with her track record for getting her hands dirty as a leader, make her a perfect cultural fit for PHD. She has both the brains and the brawn to take PHD to a whole new level in the Midwest.”

Added Carpenter: “The strategic DNA of the PHD brand, in combination with the assets of Omnicom Media Group, translates to a unique opportunity in the Midwest. We’ve got great momentum coming out of our recent wins, and I’m looking forward to working with Nathan and the entire PHD leadership team on leveraging that momentum to expand our footprint in this high-growth market.”