In a Surprise Move, Change Agent Opts to Change Teams and Game LOS ANGELES, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PHD, an Omnicom Media Group company, has named Robert Harwood-Matthews Executive Vice President, PHD West, and Managing Director of its Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. Harwood-Matthews joins PHD following a long and successful run at TBWA, where he most recently was the Global Managing Director of Infiniti, heading an integrated unit for luxury brands in the Los Angeles office. Prior to that, he was the CEO of TBWA/Manchester, where he lead an aggressive restructuring that boosted client satisfaction ratings, and a refocus on the creative product that took TBWA to Cannes in 2007 as the only non-London based UK agency to score a spot at that year's award's festival. Acknowledging that the choice is likely to surprise industry insiders, PHD CEO Scott Hagedorn said, "I can explain this decision in one word - vision. Defining the agency's vision both internally and externally, driving it, and delivering on it - that was our mandate for this position. When it comes to transforming vision to reality, Rob has the record and the results that made him the right choice at the right point in PHD's long-term growth plan." Over the course of his 15 years working with top global brands, Robert Harwood-Matthews has frequently been recognized for driving innovation at both the program and organizational level, winning acclaim for Nissan's sequential sponsorship campaign that ran on the Fox network's hit series "24", and securing TBWA/Manchester's ranking among the top 20 percent of service companies across the US and UK. Discussing his decision to join PHD, the UK native with a well-earned reputation as a change agent had an unabashedly American perspective on this unexpected change from a creative-driven shop to media agency. "When John Kennedy was asked why he wanted to run for president, he said 'because that's where the action is'," said Harwood-Matthews. "With all due respect to the creative product - and I say this as someone who has committed the past two decades to the creative side of the business - I believe that at this moment in time, media is where the action is." Making it clear that he is not suggesting that one discipline can claim superiority over the other, Harwood-Matthews explains that it is more a matter of an evolving marketplace dynamic, where understanding behaviors is an ascendant need. "Media companies are immersing themselves in the behavioral aspect, which elevates our advisory value. Clients have come to recognize that behavior is at least as important as branding, so an insights-driven organization like PHD is well set to lead in this new behavior-centric marketing environment." Among the clients on Harwood-Matthews' new roster are; in Los Angeles, Mitsubishi North America, Overture Films, the California Lottery and the California Milk Board; and GAP, Safeway, Janus Capital Management and SoyJoy in the San Francisco office. About PHD PHD (http://www.phdnetwork.com/) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnicom Media Group, a division of Omnicom Group Inc., the world's largest marketing communications company. Founded in London in 1990 as the first strategic media agency, PHD is a proven innovator in communications design and execution with 2,000 employees in over 45 countries. DATASOURCE: Omnicom Group Inc. CONTACT: Isabelle Gauvry of Omnicom Media Group Inc., +1-212-590-7314; or Pat Sloan, +1-212-415-2109 Web Site: http://www.omnicomgroup.com/

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