Mike Wood is feeling the worse for wear after entertaining a client
until the early hours of the morning and his small frame looks rather
fragile in the enormous grey boardroom which was once part of Frank
Sinatra’s flat.
Although there may be murmurs that his new job as deputy managing
director of the merged WPP media operation, MindShare, is a step back,
the former media director of JWT doesn’t appear to be at all put out. He
will report to Mandy Pooler, his counterpart at the Network, who has
been made managing director of MindShare (Campaign, last week).
In a quiet, undefensive tone, Wood explains: ’At the moment I head a
department and in that sense there isn’t a change. I will be part of
running a company as opposed to being part of managing a department,
which in itself is a sizeable step and an exciting one. It gives you
more control of your destiny because you are making bigger
decisions.’
But Wood is not a media ego (a rare phenomenon) and is happy to duck out
of the limelight. As one colleague puts it: ’Mike isn’t what you call
the world’s greatest showman. He has an extremely dry sense of humour
and is very pragmatic. He puts his head down and gets the job done, and
gives other people the opportunity to shine in the business.’ With the
high-profile leadership of Dominic Proctor and Pooler, insiders believe
Wood will be invaluable in getting the operational side of things sorted
out.
He’s been at JWT since 1983 when he joined as a press buyer, working his
way through the ranks to become deputy media director in 1991. He has no
plans to move on just yet. ’I stay because it’s a great place to work,’
he explains. ’We have some fantastic clients to work with and great
plans. I don’t think you can say I will be here forever, I’m maybe only
halfway through my working life. The creation of MindShare is very
exciting and I’m hugely looking forward to being part of its growth and
development.’ If he chose to do something else, he says, he would work
for himself in a business outside advertising.
Wood and alcohol don’t mix, as he is more than willing to admit, which
may explain why he chooses not to work the media social circuit
particularly hard. ’I’m not like other people in the industry who spend
lots of time socialising after hours. My incapacity for alcohol doesn’t
allow me to prop up bars very much.’ Some clients find it rather
endearing, though.
According to Bill Barker, head of broadcast at JWT: ’He took a Nestle
client out for lunch to get to know him better. Both rolled back four
hours later and I’ve never seen anything so sycophantic in all my life.
They were saying things like, ’I really love you,’ and ’you’re a great
guy.’’
Despite such affectionate encounters, however, the past nine months has
been disappointing for JWT London in terms of media wins. Since January
JWT has failed to clock up any new business except in Europe with the
centralisation of Kellogg’s and, in March, it lost the pounds 11 million
Esso account. But Wood is optimistic about MindShare’s future. ’It has
been a difficult year for new business. The public speculation about the
creation of a new company has made it hard. But with MindShare next year
promises to be better.’
Wood lives in Bromley with his wife and two children, and occasionally
does strange things like cycling all the way to Paris. He fell into
media in 1978 after applying for a job as a copywriter at Allen Brady &
Marsh, lured by the vision of cream suits with large lapels and open-top
red sports cars.
’Halfway through describing what I thought made great ads, Terry Oakley
asked me what my arithmetic was like, which seemed a strange question
for someone who aspired to be David Abbott.’ He was taken on as a media
buyer.
One of Wood’s responsibilities at MindShare will to blend the cultures
of JWT and the Network. ’We won’t go in one day and mess around with the
client team, it would be damaging to our business. However, from time to
time people need to have their jobs refreshed, moving on to new
accounts, so it makes sense that when we make this natural change we are
conscious of the benefits of integrating the two companies.’
And, should any problems arise, Wood will have a cost-saving
solution.
A colleague says: ’We once had a conversation about the media department
which was bursting at the seams. Mike suggested we give people smaller
desks. He’s very financially astute.’
THE WOOD FILE
1978: Media buyer, Allen Brady & Marsh
1981: Media buyer, Manton Woodyer Ketley and Partners
1983: Press buyer, J. Walter Thompson
1987: Assistant media director, JWT
1989: Appointed to JWT board
1991: Deputy media director, JWT, promoted to media director in 1994
1997: Appointed deputy managing director, MindShare.
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