Omnicom Media Group Taps Katie Klein as Chief Investment Officer

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is bringing on PHD exec Katie Klein as chief investment officer, it shared with ADWEEK.

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Klein previously held the same role at subsidiary PHD USA. In her three years there, she built an integrated investment arm serving clients including Burger King, Delta Airlines, Diageo, Priceline, Uber, and Volkswagen Group.

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Prior to PHD, she spent more than 16 years at Publicis agency Zenith, rising to senior vice president and business lead, national video investment.

At OMG, Klein will oversee billings of $20 billion in media spend across traditional and digital channels.

“I have hands-on, real-world context for how the group can best empower and accelerate audience-driven investment across our agencies,” she said in a statement. “Bringing that perspective to my new role, my priority will be to bring a relentless approach to driving innovation with our partners to deliver transformative outcomes for our clients.”

Omnicom credited Klein with crafting some of the industry’s first cross-screen upfront deals, creating partnerships that tapped into cultural moments, developing a playbook for leveraging CTV as a performance vehicle and creating a cross-channel training and development program.

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Klein will be based in New York and report to OMG North America CEO Ralph Pardo. She succeeds Geoff Calabrese, who is leaving the company next year. Omnicom expects to reveal her replacement at PHD in early January.

Her appointment comes weeks after Omnicom reached an agreement to take over Interpublic Group and form the largest advertising group in the world. COMvergence estimates that combined, the two firms will oversee north of $71 million in media billings.

During a company town hall, Pardo called Klein a “practitioner leader” who can deliver on modern marketers’ most critical priorities—performance and transformation.

“She has a strong track record of value creation, working with media partners and platforms to unlock unique opportunities that create meaningful benefits for our clients across inventory, data, content, commerce, and sponsorships,” he said in a statement. “And she is an effective leader with a unique ability to identify emerging talent and expand opportunities at all levels for her team.”