Net#work succession plan announced

The industry has recently witnessed one or two agencies flounder when the head honchos disappeared, leaving a vacuum instead of an identifiable, equally profiled replacement with equally strong leadership and talent.

Net#work BBDO (Net#work) has obviously been concentrating on long term succession planning for years. The yin and yang ad bosses, Mike Schalit and Keith Shipley must have recognised a long time ago that the way to really successful succession was to build a layering of talent and management skills from below and mentor them to the top.

The proof is their latest succession announcement. Mike Schalit and Keith Shipley are entrenching themselves even more by expanding their roles to not only steering their talented ship into even deeper, uncharted creative waters, but also by spending valuable time mentoring the new executive team.

Julian Watts, the unassuming, creative head behind most of Net#work's creative resurgence in the past year, has been appointed Executive Creative Director. The new Managing Director is Abdulla Miya, a well-known industry dynamo, who has more than made his mark at Net#work over the past six years. Miya is held in high esteem by clients and colleagues for his silky, strategic skills and passion for creativity. Boniswa Pezisa, the heart and soul of the agency for the past eight years, has been promoted to Deputy Managing Director.

As opposed to the usual desperate response to bring in external appointments, it is nice to see that Net#work BBDO is promoting from within. With directors who have been part of the development of the company's culture and ethic over the years.

Of this new management announcement - Shipley, who is now Chief Executive Officer says: "In celebrating the past, we need to plan for the future. Mike and I are excited about leading this company dynamically forward. These new appointments, we believe will build a structure and vision that offers depth and long-term management continuity."

BBDO Worldwide has an excellent record of effective succession planning and has just named Andrew Robertson (43) to succeed Allen Roshenshine (65) as worldwide CEO after three years of mentoring.

"I guess we youngsters still have a long way to go. And the words of Martin-Luther King somehow always tend to keep us in our place: 'We're not where we want to be and we're not where we're going to be, but we sure are a long way from where we were'," says Schalit who now answers to the title, Chief Creative Officer.