Publicis Health has snapped up another Omnicom Health Group executive. Six months after Matt McNally, formerly the chief executive of OHG, took up the global CEO post at Publicis, ex-OHG Chief Marketing Officer Craig Romanok has landed the chief commercial officer position at Publicis’ Digitas Health unit.
Romanok said he was leaving Omnicom last month without revealing his next employer. Digitas ended the mystery this week by disclosing the addition of the marketing veteran to its C-suite. Romanok will focus on accelerating business growth and strengthening client partnerships in his new role, leveraging experience gained across a 30-year career.
A 24-year tenure at CDMP, which culminated in a five-year stint as president, is the centerpiece of Romanok’s career. The executive then spent about two years at DDB Health New York as it merged with CDMP and 18 months as chief marketing officer of Omnicom Health Group, parent company of both of his prior agencies, before leaving and taking up the position at Digitas.
The role brings the marketing veteran back into the same network as McNally, who was CEO of Omnicom Health Group when Romanok started as chief marketing officer. The back-to-back departures of C-suite executives came in the weeks and months after Omnicom announced plans to acquire fellow marketing giant Interpublic Group.
Brian Lefkowitz, president of Digitas, contrasted the changes at other agencies to his strategy, using the appointment of Romanok to make his case: “While other networks are restructuring, merging and cutting back, we’re reinvesting in the people who move our clients forward,” Lefkowitz said in Monday’s announcement.
Last year, Publicis, Digitas’ parent company, added creative to the list of marketing duties it handles for Pfizer. Publicis was already working on data, media and production for the Big Pharma under the terms of an arrangement that split work between it and Interpublic Group.