May 2009
Laura Desmond, CEO Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), one of the world’s largest media communications organisations, has been named to chair this year’s Spikes Media jury.
Appointed SMG’s global CEO in June 2008, Desmond is one of the youngest CEOs to lead a global marketing services company, commanding a staff of 6,200 team members across 110 offices around the world and partnering with leading brands including Coca-Cola, Nintendo, Oracle, Procter & Gamble, Samsung and Walmart. Laura is a member of Publicis Group’s VivaKi Board of Directors.
As part of a major growth initiative within SMG, Desmond is driving the expansion of MediaVest’s global network which is now operational in 30 markets worldwide, including recently-launched MediaVest offices in India and Indonesia.
From 2007 (and prior to her appointment to global CEO), Desmond was CEO of SMG The Americas, where she managed a network spanning the United States, Canada and Latin America. In this role she was responsible for media agency brands–Starcom, MediaVest and Spark–as well as SMG Multicultural. During this time, she also led the creation of SMG Performance Marketing (PM) and SMG Pixel.
Under Desmond’s watch, SMG has been awarded a number accolades from leading local, regional and global industry forums, including Media Agency Network of the Year from the Festival of Media, the most awarded media agency at Dubai Lynx Festival, Most Effective Media Network honours from the Effie Awards, and Innovation Agency of the Year by Internationalist Magazine–all in 2009.
Other recent awards include Singapore Media Awards (Oracle), a Grand Effie (Nintendo Wii), Excelencia Award/AHAA (Comcast), M&M Europe (Samsung), and 70-plus other recognitions from around the globe across the full spectrum of categories including Auto, CPG, Retail, Technology and Telecom.
In addition to accolades including a profile in The Wall Street Journal's Creative Leadership Series (2007) and the Women to Watch issue (2006), Desmond was named an Advertising Age Media Maven (2005), Mediaweek's Executive of the Year (2004) and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement (2005). She was also named one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes (2008) and Ad Woman of the Year (Advertising Women of New York 2009).
“Rising through the ranks, Laura has become one of the most powerful figures in Media. To have somebody of this calibre with such leadership skills and complete understanding of the business to chair the Media competition is a huge honour for Spikes”, said Terry Savage, Spike’s Festival Chairman.
“The Spikes Asia Festival gives our industry, and specifically the growing and dynamic Asia-Pacific region, an opportunity to compete, applaud and nurture the creativity and innovation being incubated and executed within the exciting space of Media, especially with digital’s acceleration and proliferation,” said Desmond.
“I’m honoured to accept this invitation to be the Jury President especially during a transformational time in communications and marketing history.”
Visit www.spikes.asia for more information regarding the newly launched Spikes Asia Festival.
............................................................................
Read IAG ARTICLES on TAXI Design Network
This news message is supported by The Bazaar, a marketplace to buy and sell creative objects. Earn more revenue by selling your prints, downloadable images, or custom products. Set up your store today and stand a chance to have your products featured on DesignTAXI, towards millions of lovers of creative content!
