SAN FRANCISCO: AxiCom has appointed Anna Cahill Leonard to lead its US operations, following the departure of former president David Bailey after just eight weeks in the role.

Leonard joins the Cohn & Wolfe firm from WPP sibling Blanc & Otus, where she was COO and EVP. She will report to Cohn & Wolfe CEO Donna Imperato and work alongside AxiCom Europe principal and CEO Julian Tanner.

"He was not the right person to take AxiCom to the next level," said a Cohn & Wolfe spokesperson of Bailey’s two-month tenure. The former HP corporate comms head is understood to have returned to Text 100, the firm he left after four years to join AxiCom. 

Prior to joining Blanc & Otus, Leonard was MD and EVP at Porter Novelli, where for 10 years she provided strategic counsel to clients and teams, drove new business and oversaw training programs for staff.

“AxiCom excels at building corporate positioning campaigns that drive real impact for its clients across b2b and consumer markets,” said Tanner in a statement. “Anna is known as a trusted advisor to technology brands and will be an enormous asset in laying the roadmap for the growth of AxiCom’s US market, while enhancing our global offering.” 

UPDATE: "The facts: my decision to leave AxiCom was voluntary and 100 percent mine," Bailey told the Holmes Report. "I am back at Text 100, and believe Text’s vision, culture and capabilities are a better match for my personality and talents, and afford me greater opportunities in the marketplace."