• by David Goetzl , April 14, 2006

A household name on Madison Avenue is retiring after more than 25 years in the media business. Jean Pool, executive vice president and COO for North America at Universal McCann, will exit the agency to spend more time with her family--and leave behind an industry she feels has become overly focused on the bottom line.

"It's all about margins; it's all about Wall Street," she said yesterday after her departure at the end of the month was announced.

Pool--who was also Chair of the AAAA's Media Policy Committee, and in that role, challenged the networks to become more accountable in a much-talked-about speech last month--joined Universal McCann in 2003. Before that, she had a distinguished tenure at J. Walter Thompson and successor MindShare.

"We'll miss her," said Jon Mandel, a colleague on the Media Policy Committee and chairman/co-CEO at MediaCom USA. "She understood the business and got what clients were looking for."

Pool was a standout in local broadcast buying, where she began at JWT. At Universal McCann, one of her roles involved heading spot buying operations.

A Universal McCann representative said an announcement on Pool's replacement will come in the next couple of weeks. The agency is undergoing a period of restructuring. The AAAAs will appoint her successor as head of the Media Policy Committee, although no timetable was available.

Pool, 61, said she made the decision to retire to a new home in Michigan in the last few weeks, the culmination of a building frustration with the increased financial pressures placed on the industry. "I was just pushed by the climate of the industry," she said.

Other frustrations she cited included unnecessary negotiating tactics by the networks and increased clutter, both of which are hurting clients, she said.

Last month at the AAAAs annual media conference in Orlando, Pool challenged the networks to make available Nielsen's newly formulated commercial ratings (officially known as minute-by-minute data) as a basis for negotiations--part of a broader call for full disclosure of all measurement research. Keeping the info under wraps, she said, gives the appearance of "trying to hide a dirty little secret."

She reiterated that call yesterday, while criticizing the networks for running too many commercials--both detriments to clients.

"All parties to a negotiation should have the same research information available to make intelligent decisions on behalf of the advertisers," she said. "So holding back information, that's not a good thing--overly commercializing programming, that's not a good idea."

Many on the buying side of the industry applauded Pool's willingness to speak out.

Mary Gerzema, president of Universal McCann's U.S. region, said Pool "has never been afraid to express a strong opinion or fight for necessary change, as many of you will have experienced at the recent AAAA annual conference in Orlando."

"She was always willing to take on entrenched players and say what needed to be said--even when other people weren't willing to say it," said Michael Donahue, executive vice president at the AAAAs. "We're going to miss her greatly."

At JWT, Pool rose to executive vice president and North American Media Director and served on the Worldwide Board of Directors. At MindShare, she was President of Operations for North America.

David Marans, who worked with Pool for many years at JWT and MindShare and is now executive vice president at IAG Research, said she served as "a mentor" for him and her absence will be felt on Madison Avenue.

"Jean is an extremely well-known and respected person within the media world, and has been a significant role model for many," said Gerzema.