• by Tanya Gazdik , September 5, 2008

Sean Finnegan, who left Omnicom Media Group Digital for in-text advertising startup Vibrant Media in late January, is now joining Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide as its president, chief digital officer, filling the vacancy left by Curt Hecht.

Finnegan, who was CMO for Vibrant and CEO of OMG Digital, said there were two things that drew him to the new position. "One, I join an agency that continues to prove and strengthen their commitment in the digital space through top talent management and new media company investments applied to world class brands," he said in a statement. "I have watched SMG with much admiration embrace new platforms and aggressively incubate new capabilities over the past decade. Two, this is a brilliant opportunity for me to return to my native Chicago while serving a global role."

Finnegan officially begins his new job on Oct. 1. Hecht, who previously was SMG's chief digital officer, moved to VivaKi, which Publicis Groupe launched in June, to lead its "Nerve Center." Finnegan brings 15 years of experience to SMG. At OMG Digital, he led a global management team and launched services in digital investment, search, mobile, gaming, futures, analytics and ad operations. He began his career as a print planner at BBDO New York, and then shifted his focus to the Internet and new media, working at several interactive agencies including Darwin Digital (Zenith) APL Digital and JWT Digital.

He then departed the agency world for two years to become director, advertising business development at AllAdvantage.com. In 2001, Finnegan left for his native Chicago, where he became media director for TribalDDB. A year into his tenure at Tribal, Omnicom formed OMD and he became Midwest director of OMD Digital. Eventually, he was promoted to lead OMD Digital nationally and relocated back to New York.