Ali will join us from Group M agency Essence where she is managing director and succeeds Verica Djurdjevic, who joined Channel 4 as chief revenue officer in November 2020.
Ali has previous experience of working within Omnicom Media Group, having spent 5 years at our sister agency OMD.
She will report up to Omnicom Media Group UK CEO Dan Clays. The date on which she’ll join us is yet to be confirmed.
Ali joined Essence in 2018 as senior vice-president, head of client services EMEA, and was promoted to managing director in January 2020. Across her time at the agency, she played an instrumental role in winning new clients such as L’Oréal, Zoopla and Peloton.
Ali said: “I have had an unbelievable ride at Essence and know I am leaving the agency in strong hands.
PHD has a unique heritage, outstanding talent and an amazing set of clients and I’m looking forward to helping the agency redesign the future of work and accelerate its digital transformation.
That combination is everything that gets me excited about what we do, and I can’t wait to take on the leadership of PHD UK at such an incredibly exciting time in the industry.”
Dan Clays, CEO of Omnicom Media Group UK said, “In Ali, we have appointed an exceptional leader who has done incredibly well in her time at Essence.
She stood out in the process as not only having the fundamental client and strategic strengths that will be critical at PHD but also for her depth of digital and data experience and the energy she brings to transformation. It will be a formidable team running PHD.”
Philippa Brown, Worldwide CEO of PHD said, “It’s an unprecedented time for the industry and the strength of our leadership has never been so important. Having worked with Ali in the past I know she is the perfect fit to continue PHD’s success in delivering outstanding results for our clients”.
Ali’s arrival at PHD is the third new CEO announcement by Omnicom Media Group UK in the past month, following the promotions of Natalie Bell (Manning Gottlieb OMD) and Laura Fenton (OMD UK) in December.
