Dive Brief:

• GroupM has appointed Alycia Mason as CEO of its Wavemaker U.S. agency, effective at the end of July, according to a press release. 
• Mason joins the WPP group from McDonald’s, where she most recently served as field vice president overseeing thousands of stores. In 2022, the executive was named the burger chain’s first U.S. customer experience officer, leading digital transformation across apps, delivery platforms and in-store kiosks.  
• Mason is joining Wavemaker’s global leadership team and will report to GroupM North America CEO Sharb Farjami. The hire comes as GroupM tries to reinvent itself for a more data-driven era of marketing. 

Dive Insight:

Mason returns to her agency roots with the jump to Wavemaker, a media-buying shop within WPP’s GroupM media behemoth. At McDonald’s, the executive helped steer the advancement of digital capabilities that became crucial to quick-service restaurants during the pandemic, including work on apps and delivery services. Earlier in her career at the Golden Arches, she acted as vice president of digital customer experience and media to expand McDonald’s omnichannel operations, resulting in improved sales profitability and doubled return-on-investment for media. 

That experience could help GroupM as it tries to level up its sophistication with tech amid sharper business pressures. The firm, which built its reputation in an era where TV dominated, is undergoing a restructuring in North America as it shifts off of legacy models and directs more resources toward data-driven marketing and integrated agency solutions, Ad Age previously reported.   

Mason’s time at McDonald’s might also better key her into the needs of clients that are wrestling with their own transformations. Chief marketers have been pushed to master different media strategies in the face of signal loss like cookie deprecation and the drive to attach marketing closer to business results. Announcing the hire, GroupM North America CEO Farjami described Mason as a “change agent.” 

“Her digital expertise, strategic mindset, brand savvy, and experience leading large, integrated teams make her the ideal leader to drive growth for Wavemaker U.S.,” Farjamai said of Mason in a press statement. “Her forward-thinking leadership and brand-side perspective will be invaluable to our entire organization.”

Farjami took on GroupM’s top job in North America at the start of the year, replacing Kirk McDonald. He previously led Wavemaker in the region. Farjami has made several other hires, including naming a new chief operating officer and creating GroupM’s first chief growth officer role in February. 

Mason, who spent nearly six years at McDonald’s, is familiar with the media agency world, having previously worked at Publicis’ Starcom, Omnicom’s OMD and Mindshare, also part of GroupM. Past clients under her remit have included Kellogg, Kraft, BP, Castrol, JCPenney and Dell. At Wavemaker, Mason will split her time between Chicago and New York. 

GroupM’s shakeup comes as parent WPP has been battered by tech spending pullbacks, weakness in markets like China and the loss of large accounts. The ad-holding group saw revenue decline 1.4% in Q1. It expects growth to remain flat or at 1% for the full year.