• by Joe Mandese , 8 hours ago

In yet another transition for the head of a major ad industry trade association, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) this morning announced that Stephan Loerke will step down as CEO in the middle of next year and that the process has started to recruit a successor.

The WFA said a five-person panel -- comprised of WFA President David Wheldon, Ferrero Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Phil Myers, WFA Treasurer and French Advertisers Association Director General Jean Luc Chétrit, PepsiCo Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer, International Foods Jane Wakely, and Diageo CMO Cristina Diezhandino -- will oversee the process.

Loerke, who has served as WFA CEO for more than two decades, presided over a period of accelerated change for the global advertising community, and will be remembered as a champion of advertising self-regulation, as well as an advocate for improved business practices and advertising and media measurement.

Under his helm, the WFA fielded its ground-breaking open source cross-media measurement initiative Project Halo, which has led to the deployment of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Aquila service in the U.S. and its counterpart, Origin, in the U.K.

Loerke also oversaw one of the ad industry's most ambitious efforts to influence the responsible use of media worldwide, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which was shuttered after Elon Musk sued the WFA and several of its global brand members for antitrust.

In July, the WFA announced a settlement with Musk, agreeing not to revive GARM or ever organize an effort similar to it, but Musk has continued his efforts to sue many of the advertisers involved.

News of Loerke's departure comes as the ANA continues a search for a CEO to succeed Bob Liodice and as the Advertising Research Foundation also is recruiting for a CEO to succeed Scott McDonald.