• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, December 8, 2020

WPP OOH agency Kinetic has appointed Keith Kaplan Global CEO. He succeeds Marc-Antoine de Roys, who recently announced his retirement. 

A 20-plus year industry veteran, most recently Kaplan was an advisor and investor in Outfront Media.

Earlier, he helped build a global ad network at Adconion (now Amobee) and led global client and agency development for Yahoo. He also spearheaded global monetization for King Digital Entertainment, a division of gaming company Activision. 

The appointment comes as the OOH category is poised for growth 2021 and beyond. According to GroupM's This Year, Next Year Global Forecast, outdoor is expected to grow more than 17% in 2021, followed by 8%-plus growth in 2022. 

Of course that growth follows a tough 2020 when the medium fell by nearly 30% as result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The future for out-of-home is exciting and, with Keith at the helm, we plan an acceleration in 2021 to expand our offerings to stay ahead of changing brand challenges as consumer behavior continues to evolve," stated Brian Gleason, chief commercial officer, GroupM. "Keith brings us deep expertise, and he's also a passionate leader who is eager to make an impact on our company. This aligns perfectly with our goal for growth and our desire to spur innovation for our clients' brands." 

Added Kaplan: "I have always passionately believed that out-of-home is a severely undervalued medium with an extremely bright future … The industry is on the verge of a major transformation and my priority is to put us at the center of it all.”