Omnicom Media Group agency PHD has named Matt Ticehurst chief strategy officer of the U.S., the agency shared exclusively with Campaign US. His first day is tomorrow, November 1.
Ticehurst was previously executive head of global strategy at IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative, a position he held since July 2023. He has held various positions at Interpublic Group for 12 years; his last day with the company is today, October 31, he said in a LinkedIn post announcing his departure.
In his new role at PHD, Ticehurst is tasked with “advancing and productizing” the agency’s strategic offer. Based out of New York, he will report to the U.S. CEO Michael Solomon.
“PHD recognizes that through all the revolutionary capabilities that tech and AI will provide clients and agencies, it is going to be the ingenuity and the soft touch of the people at the helm of these technologies that will impact client outcomes,” said Ticehurst. “As chief strategy officer, my priority will be ensuring relevant, timely and — most importantly — value-focused exchanges between brands and their customers that will unlock transformative growth for PHD clients.”
Solomon highlighted strategy as a key business pillar as it is “the point at which data, technology and human intelligence are combined to drive measurable outcomes for PHD clients.”
“With that in mind, we were looking for a CSO who could balance those components — someone who could activate our industry-leading AI capabilities to elevate our human thinking, and who could leverage the ecosystem of talent and technology that OMG’s Agency as a Platform model enables to deliver media solutions that will help our clients outthink, outpace and outgrow the marketplace,” he continued. “We found that leader in Matt Ticehurst.”
PHD has made several global executive hires in the past two months, including global chief experience officer Rohan Tambyrajah, global COO Vincent Rebeix and PHD APAC CEO Eileen Ooi.
PHD USA tops Campaign Red’s latest media new-business league, which reported the agency netted $688.5 million in new business wins and retentions, inclusive of account losses.
According to Comvergence data, PHD has won or retained eight accounts in 2024, including Volkswagen Group, Priceline and David Yurman.
