Dive Brief:
- IPG Mediabrands named former Charles Schwab CFO Marlene Pelage its global CFO, replacing Guy Beach, who was promoted to global president. The company is the media and marketing solutions division of advertising giant Interpublic Group. Both Pelage and Beach report to Mediabrands CEO Daryl Lee.
- Since 2005, Pelage has worked in finance leadership at Charles Schwab, including as risk and credit management director, vice president of finance, and managing director of strategy, business initiatives and administration. She assumed the CFO role of Charles Schwab Bank, Charles Schwab Premier Bank, Charles Schwab Trust Bank and the Charles Schwab Trust Companies, in 2019.
- The announcement comes one day after Mediabrands announced its partnership with social media app TikTok. Together, Mediabrands and TikTok, which has exploded in popularity amid the pandemic, will design a series of programs intended to "drive brands to the center of culture," according to Marketing Dive.
Dive Insight:
"As audience reach declines in traditional formats, it is critical that client budgets fund new ways to connect with audiences," Dani Benowitz, president of Mediabrands' intelligence agency Magna, said in a statement. "This partnership will deliver incredible value to our clients and, as importantly, will help all of us learn the power of creating content communities at scale."
The pivot from the finance industry to advertising is not too far a leap, Pelage told Insider, because both industries face strict regulations and pose data and privacy concerns.
Beach has been Mediabrands’ CFO since 2014, and served as COO before that.
According to consulting firm R3, Mediabrands brought in nearly 50% of IPG's new business revenue last year. It counts Amazon, Salesforce, American Express and Coca-Cola as clients.
Pelage will manage the global IPG Mediabrands P&L, the company said, and her direct reports will include global brand and regional CFOs and global controllers across the IPG Mediabrands network.
“During her 15 years at Charles Schwab, Marlene worked across both financial and strategic functions, including as the Managing Director of Client Solutions, and leading the roll-out of new capabilities across international markets as global CFO of Charles Schwab Bank,” CEO Daryl Lee said in a statement. “Marlene will bring a fresh perspective to our business [...] while maintaining strict commercial rigor and discipline.”
Representatives for Mediabrands and for Pelage did not immediately respond to requests for comment.