Rob Norman

As CEO of GroupM North America, Rob oversees general management as well as strategic and administrative activities at each of GroupM’s four media and marketing service agencies - Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, Mindshare and Kinetic. Together they represent almost $26 billion in overall U.S. billings (RECMA). Rob’s responsibilities also include group development and synergies across all four agencies, as well as financial performance. Rob assumed the GroupM North American title in March 2010 after serving since 2007 as head of Group M Interaction, which includes the digital offerings of each GroupM agency as well as the integrated global search organization that combines GroupM affiliates Outrider, Catalyst, and 24/7 Real Media.

As CEO of GroupM Interaction, he oversees the activities of the world’s largest buyer of online media with an estimated $4 billion in 2008 billings (RECMA). In this role, his principle tasks are developing the digital capabilities within GroupM while establishing thought leadership positioning in the digital space and contributing to each agency’s business development.

He is a frequent keynote speaker at advertising and marketing events and contributor to industry publications. He was named a Media Maven by Advertising Age in 2007 and sits on the advisory board of WPP Digital, the venture arm of GroupM parent company WPP.

Rob has worked for more than two decades in the media agency business in a variety of increasingly senior roles, mostly at GroupM agency MEC, where he was named U.K. Chairman in 2003. He joined the company in 1986 prior to the merger, when the agency was known as CIA. Rob joined in London after starting his career at Colman RSCG a year earlier as a media assistant. Rob rose quickly through the ranks at CIA, first becoming a Group Head and then founding the company’s first joint venture media operation, which became the model for three subsequent ventures. In 2002, following the merger of CIA with Mediaedge, Rob was appointed Worldwide Director of New Business Development, while also serving as worldwide CEO head of Outrider. Prior to moving to the U.S. in January 2005, Rob was chairman of MEC in the U.K.

Rob lives in New York and is widely believed to be the only Englishman with a working knowledge of the infield fly rule. He is a fan of the New York Mets, the New York Jets, Tottenham Hotspur and Warren Buffett. His blog can be found at robnorman.wordpress.com.