John Wringe, the managing director of the Conquest agency in London, has been appointed second-in-command of the Conquest network, which is being developed into a global offering by its WPP parent.
As the chief operating officer, he will work alongside Luca Lindner, Conquest's Italian chief executive, to oversee its transformation into WPP's fourth global network.
The group is planning to align the 14 Conquest offices in Europe with Batey Advertising in Singapore and the Seattle agency Cole & Weber to exploit modest-spending international advertisers with budgets between dollars 40 million and dollars 100 million.
Wringe will spearhead the network's new-business drive, as well as taking responsibility for the Conquest operations in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Switzerland.
Wringe, 42, joined Cogent as a graduate trainee in 1978 and moved to London with Paul Simons, now the Ogilvy & Mather group chairman, to establish the agency's office in the capital.
He joined Conquest in June 1998 from Publicis, where he was client services director.
'I have been looking after clients and helping to manage agencies for around 20 years,' Wringe said.
'But I could not resist the personal challenge of helping to develop an international network.'
