Mike Dodds is continuing his rise up the ranks of the Omnicom group after being handed the role of global president of Proximity Worldwide as part of a shake-up of the agency’s senior team following the launch of the new CRM division, the Omnicom Precision Marketing Group.
Dodds (pictured, right) will report into new global chief executive Doug Worple (pictured, left), chairman and founder of Cincinnati-based Barefoot Proximity. Worple succeeds Proximity Worldwide chairman Chris Thomas, also a former CEO of Proximity London, who will now concentrate on his role as chief executive of BBDO Americas.
Dodds joined Proximity London from OgilvyOne in 2008 and has been managing director of the network’s European region since January 2015. He relinquished the role of London CEO in July last year, handing the baton over to managing director Gabrielle Ludzker (nee Moss).
During Dodds’ tenure, the agency has picked up a raft of new business, including Specsavers, Lloyds Bank, John Lewis, Oxfam, Disney, Skoda and Bacardi. In his new role, Dodds will continue to be responsible for new business, culture and talent development and will be based in London.
Worple founded Barefoot in 1993; the agency was acquired by Omnicom in 2008 and rebranded Barefoot Proximity. He has served on the Proximity Worldwide executive team since then.
Commenting on the appointments, Luke Taylor – who was handed the role of CEO of the Precision Marketing Group last week – said: “Doug and Mike have successfully driven growth in their respective agencies, are fully embedded in the Proximity network and have the skills to take Proximity to the next level.
“This new dedicated leadership at Proximity Worldwide will ensure that the network is increasingly focused on leveraging resources from across the entire Omnicom portfolio to deliver powerful solutions to clients.”
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