• by Joe Mandese , April 10, 2007

Seven months after promoting MediaVest chief Laura Desmond to CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group/The Americas, the Publicis media unit is poised to name a successor to run MediaVest. And while an official announcement is not expected for several weeks, the job is expected to go to an insider: Bill Tucker, one of two president-level executives and one of two managing directors at the agency.

Tucker who was tapped as one of three managing directors when Desmond created an executive committee shortly after being named CEO of MediaVest in 2004, has been Desmond's right-hand man, service as head of the agency's operations, head of client services and also as the lead account person on the agency's Kraft business.

The appointment is interesting because the agency has a number of strong women in lead roles, and because Starcom MediaVest Group has demonstrated a penchant for promoting women into top management roles.

Lisa Donahue, executive vice president and the lead person on the Masterfoods account is the agency's other managing director. She also heads up the agency's integrated communications. Richard Beaven, a third managing director level executive, left last year to run Initiative North America.

Donna Speciale, president-investment and activation, and the only other president-level executive at the agency, was also deemed a candidate.

As head of Americas operations for Starcom MediaVest Group, Desmond will continue to maintain close ties to MediaVest's operations and continues to be based in New York, though she splits her time between the city and SMG's headquarters in Chicago.

The shift occurs as MediaVest is on one of the strongest roles of any agency so far this year, picking up nearly $1.5 billion during the first four months of 2007, including Wal-Mart, Wendy's and Abbott Laboratories media accounts.