Goeff Laurel Named Vice President Director Of Media Investment At Digitas

Goeff Laurel, vice president director of media investment at Digitas North America

Goeff Laurel has been appointed vice president director, media investment at Digitas North America, in what is his second stint with Publicis Groupe.

Appointment: vice president director, media investment, Digitas North America
Second spell at Publicis Groupe
Previously integrated associate director at PHD, covering digital, video, linear, content and experiential
Earlier at dentsu international as media supervisor across digital content, programmatic and print
Has also held senior roles at Mediacom and Zenith

The Remit Goeff Laurel Takes On

Media investment is the buying side, and the interesting detail in Goeff Laurel's background is the breadth of the previous brief. Digital, video, linear, content and experiential in one role at PHD, and before that digital content, programmatic and print at dentsu international.

A decade ago those would have been separate desks with separate traders and separate negotiations. Consolidating them under one person reflects a market where the same audience is bought across screens and where a linear negotiation is increasingly settled against digital reach rather than in isolation.

Why The Boomerang Is Normal Now

This is Laurel's second stint at Publicis, and returning hires have become routine at holding-company level rather than remarkable.

Media agencies are structurally short of senior investment talent, because the skill takes years to build, is difficult to teach and is portable across networks. Someone who has already worked inside a group's trading systems and knows its client base can be productive immediately, which is worth more than a fresh perspective when the job is negotiating rates.

The Route Through The Networks

Mediacom, Zenith, dentsu international, PHD and now Digitas is a circuit through most of the major holding groups. In investment that pattern is a credential rather than a warning: each network has different supplier relationships and different trading positions, and having seen several is exactly what makes a buyer effective.

The appointment is a North America role rather than an Indian one, but Digitas and PHD both operate here, and investment leadership hires at group level tend to reach the regional operating model eventually.