Chief Strategy Officer
MediaCom USA
The advertising and media businesses are often associated with young minds and new talent. At 36, Chris Pyne proves that popular wisdom to be true. In a short time, he has crossed two continents to become an accomplished leader, a strategic expert and a rainmaker.
Since 2011, Chris has been Chief Strategy Officer for WPP’s MediaCom USA. His role is to design future opportunities for the company and to ensure that MediaCom’s teams produce exceptional work to deliver experiences that change the way consumers see brands. In other words – outside of actual client service on a day to day basis – Chris is responsible for the current and future performance of iconic brands including Dell, Subway, Audi, Volkswagen, Bayer, Revlon, Shell, Subway and Universal Music Group.
Chris joined MediaCom in 2010 as Chief Client Strategy Officer, and was promoted to Chief Strategy Officer in less than a year. In 2012, he was promoted again to an expanded role leading more than 50% of the agency’s staff, including insights, strategy, integrated planning, digital, search, analytics and business science teams, in addition to MediaCom Beyond Advertising, a branded content/entertainment division responsible for everything from documentary films to worldwide concert tours in support of client objectives.
During his short tenure, Chris has helped the agency win significant new business, a key factor in MediaCom’s 2012 ranking by RECMA as #1 in pitch competitiveness.
Chris began his career at 21 in media in the UK, joining Zenith Media and assuming a director role in less than 2 years. Not yet 25 years old, Chris was managing over $1B in client spend. He later shifted to a strategy position on the P&G business, taking leadership of the account within three years. In this role, he more than doubled Zenith’s business with P&G, while winning numerous awards.
In 2006, Chris was recruited by Optimedia’s UK CEO to rebuild the agency’s business stateside. He quickly built an integrated communications planning and buying approach for the company called OPEN, and grew Optimedia’s billing threefold. In a few short years, he produced $500 million in new business and was managing over $2 billion in client billings.
Chris Pyne began far from where he is today. With a BS in biotechnology and advanced genetics from King’s College at the University of London, his first job was teaching surgeons how to perform laparoscopic surgery. After a few years in the operating room, he shifted to media. Why? Because he saw the medical field struggling to communicate and thought he could help. He simply sees things differently.