Arun Sudhaman 15 Jun 2016 // 9:32AM GMT
LONDON — Adam Clyne is leaving Weber Shandwick after 18 months as the IPG firm's head of digital in EMEA.
Clyne (pictured), whose tenure saw the firm clinch its first EMEA Digital Consultancy of the Year award, is joining youth media company the Lad Bible in the newly-created role of chief operating officer. Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, he spent six years with TVC, which is now part of the Economist Group.
Weber Shandwick will not replace Clyne's position directly, said EMEA CEO Colin Byrne. "Things have moved on, and we’re beyond that now," said Byrne.
Chris Perry, Weber Shandwick's global chief digital officer, noted that the firm is instead focused on building out its digital capabilities across all of its global business units. "Everyone has to be fluent in what it means to speak digital through whatever lens it is," said Perry.
Accordingly, said Perry, the agency is upping investment in broader disciplines like creative, data and content, and specialist skills such as analytics, production and paid media. "There’s many different roles within that where we are investing," he said, pointing to the growth of Weber Shandwick's MediaCo content unit.
Six months ago, global MediaCo head Jason Wellcome moved to Hong Kong to oversee digital integration, following the departures of digital leaders Jon Wade and Jye Smith. In the US, meanwhile, MediaCo has added an expanded innovation council under new North America head Vivian Schiller.
Byrne noted that Clyne had successfully rebuilt Weber Shandwick's EMEA digital capabilities, after "we struggled for some time." Last year, digital accounted for a third of the firm's EMEA revenues, growing 25%. "The two-year turnaround has been successful and provided us with a jumping-off point for the next stage of the evolution," he added.
Weber Shandwick's EMEA digital leaders include ECD James Nester, head of social Danny Whatmough and head of content Alastair Berry.