Demet Ikiler, WPP country manager and chief executive of Group M Turkey, has become chief executive of the EMEA region.
She takes over from Dominic Grainger, who has been transitioning to chief executive of WPP Specialist Communications since September 2019. Ikiler will continue in her post as WPP country manager for Turkey, while a successor for the Turkey chief executive position has yet to be announced.
In her new role, Ikiler will split her time between Istanbul and London to lead strategy and operations across Group M’s agencies including Essence, M/SIX, MediaCom, Mindshare, Wavemaker and Xaxis. The business operates in 27 markets across EMEA, with 16,000 staff and manages $18bn (£13.6bn) in media spend.
Ikiler began her career in advertising at Saatchi & Saatchi as a media manager in 1994. Two years later, she became deputy managing director at Zenith Media. In 2000, she joined Group M shop Mindshare as managing director and became Group M Turkey chief executive in 2011. Two years later, she added the country manager role to her remit.
Christian Juhl, global chief executive of Group M, said: “Demet has been an incredible asset to both Group M and WPP for 20 years, helping to rapidly grow Group M in the Turkish market during her time as CEO. Her openness to the pace of change and understanding the benefits of an emerging global technology and services capability makes her the type of leader we look for at Group M.
“She has a tremendous passion for our clients, our people and the advertising industry, with the goal of making advertising work better for all people. I see her as a leader that understands both our clients’ need for growth and our agencies’ ability to thrive and differentiate.”
