Michael O’Brien, Ketchum’s North America director of client development and a member of that Omnicom unit's global leadership council, has been named chief client officer. His appointment is effective immediately.
 Michael O’Brien |
O’Brien succeeds senior partner Jerry Olszewski, who dually served as chief client officer and managing director of the agency's Washington, D.C. office since September 2015. Olszewski, who joined Ketchum in 1980 and managed that agency’s operations outside the United States from 1991 to 2001, will now continue in the MD role in a permanent capacity.
O’Brien first joined Ketchum in 1997 as SVP and headed the agency’s brand marketing practice in New York before departing in 2004. He was stationed at WPP subsidiary Cohn & Wolfe, where he served as president of that agency's global consumer practice, before rejoining Ketchum in 2009, where he was named executive VP and director of New York client service. He was named partner in 2010 and was promoted to director of client development for North America in 2012.
Earlier in his career, O’Brien was a director, global brand communications at MasterCard International and was also a senior associate at Ogilvy Public Relations. Along with Olszewski, O’Brien earlier this year was appointed to Ketchum’s Global Leadership Council.
As chief client officer, O’Brien will be responsible for clients’ interaction with the agency, and will mentor and coach client directors globally while overseeing client satisfaction, retention and growth.
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