Reporting on the appointment of Mike Piner as PHD USA’s new Chief Investment Officer quotes CEO Mike Solomon, who defined the mandate that made Piner the right choice for the role:
“We were looking for an investment leader with a proven record of bringing together the buy and sell-sides to ensure the levers of investment are aligned to the forces of change across the media landscape,” said Solomon.
Read the story here or read the full release below.
Michael Piner Joins PHD USA as Chief Investment Officer
PHD USA has named Michael Piner as Chief Investment Officer. He will deliver data-driven, audience-centric investment solutions that enable connected consumer experiences across the customer journey. Piner joins PHD from his role as EVP, Advanced Advertising at IPG Mediabrands, where he led the transformation of TV buying into a cross-screen/cross-channel investment offer.
He succeeds Katie Klein, who recently moved to a group-level role as Chief Investment Officer of OMG North America.
A tested executive with 27 years of industry experience, Piner has been a leading industry voice on TV’s digital transformation and an early pioneer in driving the development of advanced advertising capabilities. Named AdAge’s 2020 Media Planner of the Year for using next-gen data and technology to break media investment boundaries, he had held seats on both the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to advance the standardization of alternative video currencies and the Go Addressable industry initiative to accelerate the growth of addressable TV.
His appointment marks the latest in a series of talent moves—including the addition of Chief Media Officer, Melissa Wisehart, Chief Operating Officer Katie Johnson, Chief Client Officer Lindsay Murtagh, and Chief Strategy Officer Matt Ticehurst to the PHD USA C-suite—made by CEO Michael Solomon to ensure a leadership team aligned with PHD’s global go-to-market offer of “Intelligence. Connected.”
“Collaborative innovation is at the core of ‘Intelligence. Connected.’—and it is also the prerequisite for delivering competitive advantage for brands in a constantly evolving and expanding investment ecosystem, says PHD USA CEO Michael Solomon. “With that in mind, we were looking for an investment leader with a proven record of bringing together the buy and sell sides to ensure the levers of investment are aligned to forces of change across the media landscape. Michael clears that high bar.”
The move marks a return to PHD for Piner, who did an earlier tour of duty with the agency from 2007-2015, a tenure that began with managing investment strategy for the agency’s largest client during the 2008 financial crash and through the Great Recession, and culminated in an SVP Group Director role, leading investment for all auto, entertainment and luxury goods clients.
Commenting on his second act with the agency in a new role, Piner said, “PHD’s culture of collaboration, curiosity, and ingenuity has always been a beacon that attracts, retains – and in some cases, brings back – talent. As the head of investment for the agency, I will be partnering with our best-in-class client teams and our media partners to deliver investment solutions and opportunities that will enable our clients to outthink, outpace, and outgrow their competition.”
Piner joins PHD as the agency’s “Intelligence.Connected.” offer, powered the most successful new business performance in the agency’s history. As reported in March by COMvergence, PHD topped the 2024 new business ranking for global media agency networks with $3.8b in total new business (wins minus losses, including retentions) and an astonishing 83% retention rate in a year when the industry average was 32%.
Welcoming Piner back to the OMG family, OMG North America’s CEO, Ralph Pardo, said, “Mike is the perfect fit to complement the practitioner-leaders at PHD. We are continuing our focus on building modern teams of the best talent, capability, and technology to help our clients achieve better business outcomes.”
Piner’s appointment is effective immediately.
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