• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 3, 2025

In a move some might see as a possible succession scenario, Horizon Media Holdings this morning named long-time agency and media company veteran Bob Lord president, reporting to founder and CEO Bill Koenigsberg.

Lord, who joins from his own consultancy, previously served as Chief Digital Officer of IBM, president of AOL and global CEO of Razorfish, pre- and post- its acquisition by Publicis Groupe.

"Bob's extraordinary track record is synonymous with transformation," Koenigsberg said in a statement included with this morning's announcement, which describes Horizon Media Holdings as the privately-held umbrella organization that includes independent media services agency Horizon Media, as well as its advertising, media and commerce affiliates.

It is no secret that Koenigsberg has been searching for a possible successor who could help Horizon expand globally and potentially even take it public to compete with the major agency holding companies, but it also comes as two of the majors -- Omnicom and Interpublic -- are poised to consolidate into one mega agency holding company.

“The days of a client calling up and saying, ‘Hey, I want to move my business to you’ are over,” Koenigsberg said sounding almost wistful as part of a MediaPost profile recognizing him as our executive of the year last year, in part because of his lifetime achievement in building Horizon into the largest independent media agency, as well as his recognition that it might be time to transform it into something else.