Omnicom Group has revamped its structure for Australia and New Zealand, elevating Clemenger BBDO CEO Lee Leggett into a new group-wide role across Omnicom Oceania.

Leggett will now take on the role of chief customer officer for the group and will be tasked with “strengthening the group’s focus on client experience and integration across Australia and New Zealand”, Omnicom confirmed to Mumbrella.

DDB Melbourne and Sydney leaders Mike Napolitano and Sheryl Marjoram will take over as co-CEOs of Clemenger BBDO as the 1949-founded DDB is folded into the brand and retired globally.

TBWA, which is absorbing DDB globally, will continue to be overseen by Kimberlee Wells, as the local operation carves out a slightly different path from the sweeping global overhaul triggered by Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG.

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Overnight, the holding company confirmed it will shed more than 4,000 roles worldwide as it consolidates its creative networks, formally retiring legacy names including DDB and IPG’s MullenLowe and FCB.

However, the IPG picture is more tangled in ANZ as McCann, FutureBrand and 303 MullenLowe all operate here under a franchised model, with IPG licensing the brands to local owners rather than running them directly.

Mumbrella understands it will remain business as usual for the brands that still exist in the global network, namely FutureBrand and McCann.

On the media side, Hearts & Science, Initiative, MediaHub, OMD, PHD and UM will all remain as “client-first” agency brands, the holding company confirmed.

Notably absent from Omnicom’s announcement today were IPG Mediabrands Australia CEO Mark Coad, UM Australia CEO Anathea Ruys and Initiative CEO Jo McAlister.

Omnicom told Mumbrella that media leadership appointments will be announced shortly. In the meantime, it has already made significant internal changes, naming OMD co-CEO Laura Nice as CEO of PHD Australia.

The move leaves Sian Whitnall as the sole CEO of OMD Australia and positions former PHD CEO Mark Jarrett for an as-yet unspecified leadership role within OMG’s ranks.

These structural changes are a key part of Omnicom’s broader regional consolidation under the recently appointed Omnicom Oceania CEO Nick Garrett, who is moving to create a unified management structure spanning media, creative, PR, performance marketing, and production.

“This is a defining moment for our region,” Omnicom Oceania CEO Nick Garrett said in a statement.

“By bringing together the depth, ambition and talent of our people, while simplifying the architecture, we are creating modern, future-fit agencies and capabilities that will deliver world-class creativity & media, smarter data and technology integration, and new levels of effectiveness for brands in Australia and New Zealand.

Clemenger BBDO’s new co-CEOs Sheryl Marjoram and Mike Napolitano

“I want to congratulate Priya Patel, Paul Wilson, Sheryl Marjoram, Mike Napolitano and Lee Leggett on their new roles. Their leadership will play a critical part in shaping the next era of Omnicom Oceania. These changes honour the legacies of our heritage brands while positioning us to unlock even greater opportunity, effectiveness and growth for our clients and our people.”

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, DDB Group Aotearoa and FCB Group Aotearoa will merge to form McCann Group NZ, a new unified creative and media agency network.

Priya Patel, CEO, DDB Group Aotearoa, and Paul Wilson, CEO, FCB Group Aotearoa, have been appointed Co-CEOs of McCann Group NZ.

Clemenger Wellington and FCB Wellington will rebrand as McCann Wellington, operating as part of McCann Group NZ.

On the public relations side, global brands FleishmanHillard, Golin, and Weber Shandwick are set to continue operations, according to the Financial Times. While Weber Shandwick maintains its own Sydney office, FleishmanHillard and the locally founded Eleven PR operate from TBWA\Sydney in Pyrmont. Golin, meanwhile, has no local presence.

Although the brands will remain intact, Australia-based staff have begun transitioning to @omc.com email addresses.

Last month, Mumbrella revealed that TBWA’s production chief Lisa Brown had been promoted the role of Omnicom Production Group lead and is now overseeing cross-agency production across the group, including Clemenger BBDO’s specialist production company Made This.

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