GroupM names Chris Riley New Zealand CEO

GroupM has promoted Chris Riley to New Zealand chief executive.

Riley, who is currently GroupM chief operating officer and managing director of Wavemaker in New Zealand, will now lead the strategy for the group.

He will work closely with the leadership of GroupM’s four agencies in the region, which includes Mediacom, Mindshare, Ikon and Wavemaker.

Grant Anderson, former client services director at Wavemaker, will take over leadership at the agency as managing partner.

In the new role, Riley will report to GroupM Australia and New Zealand chief executive Mark Lollback.

Lollback said the new role will allow GroupM to "build on existing success and accelerate growth in New Zealand, and focus on strengthening our relationships with clients and partners".

He called New Zealand an "important market in the region".

Riley has 26 years of experience in advertising, communications and digital, with past roles including chief operating officer at DDB New Zealand, managing director of OMD New Zealand, and head of digital at MediaCom in London.

Riley said he is "fired up" about the opportunity to guide the next stage of the GroupM growth plan in New Zealand.

"The group has been working hard on our strategy of pacesetting the industry with particular emphasis on technology and data, and it’s really paid off for our clients," he added.

GroupM New Zealand currently has 120 employees across its four agency brands as well as its dedicated centralised data and insights business, programmatic business and trading team. Its clients include Vodafone, BMW Mini, Kellogg and Tiffany.

Riley’s appointment completes GroupM's new leadership team in the region, which includes group talent director Ben Dufty, who was appointed in February, and chief investment officer Steve Tindall who joined in November.