How did a guy known throughout the industry as being exceedingly nice become the North American CEO of GroupM, the media agency network owned by agency holding company WPP? On Kirk McDonald — who has been in the role for a year — Adam Gerhart, global CEO of Mindshare has this to say: “Although he might not have been the usual suspect for an agency role, the skillset and perspective he has was absolutely applicable. It’s provided a different vantage point than someone who’s grown up or only worked in an agency their whole life." Read a profile of McDonald’s leadership below.

• To Kirk McDonald's mind, flipping his body of sales-side knowledge to apply to the buying side of the business was exactly what was needed to run a media agency network.
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• The Digiday+ Future of TV Briefing this week looks at the companies that are aiming to revamp the traditional TV ad format for streaming.
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