Zenith has hired Rian Shah for a new London-based leadership role focused on driving brand growth for clients.
Reporting to Zenith’s Global Brand President Vittorio Bonori, Rian will join the network in September as Managing Director, UK Hub. In this new role, Rian will focus on driving collaboration for global, regional and local clients. He will become a member of Zenith’s Global Leadership Team and will also sit on the agency’s UK Management Team, under the leadership of UK CEO Mark Howley.
Following the launch of Zenith’s new global proposition and brand identity in May, Rian will play a key role in leveraging the network’s new ROI+ approach for global, regional and UK clients, serviced from London. Working with the other members of the leadership teams in London, Rian will be focused on driving clients’ transformation agendas, bringing together all the products and services from Publicis Media’s Practices in the UK – such as Content; Performance; and Data, Technology & Innovation – to support client goals. Rian will also be focused on helping to deliver against Zenith’s own growth and transformation plans.
Regularly named one of the leading media planners in the UK, Rian joins Zenith from OMD UK, where he was Chief Strategy Officer. In this role he had overall responsibility for the agency’s product and for evolving its vision and story. Rian joined OMD UK in 2013 as Managing Partner, and prior to that had spent eight years at former Zenith agencies.Between 2010 and 2013, he worked at ZenithOptimedia UK, first as Strategy Director before going on to be Head of Strategy. While at the group, Rian also had a stint as Senior Planner at Moxie in the US.
Vittorio Bonori, Global Brand President, Zenith, said: “As we move forward as the ROI agency, Rian joins a fantastic global team and will play a key role in bringing together all the capabilities from across Zenith and Publicis Media to drive transformational growth for clients.”
Mark Howley, CEO, Zenith UK, said: “We are delighted that Rian is returning to the agency. He is a unique talent: he is truly strategic, a digital native and has outstanding client-leadership skills.”
Rian Shah, Managing Director, UK Hub, Zenith, said: “I am very excited at the prospect of working again at the agency where I had so many happy and successful years. With Zenith’s new vision and approach and with Publicis Media’s market-leading Practices, I believe we have a fantastic opportunity to really drive transformation for clients.”
