Friday, January 25, 2008

Build vs. Bureaucracy; 3 Good Bets

Wow - what a week.

Sean Finnegan leaves OMD for Vibrant Media.

Nick Pahade jumps to GSI Commerce from Publicis.

Chris Saridakis is given the reins at Gannett Digital.

Giants make the Superbowl! Sorry, I digress...but I LOVE the GMen to cover +12.

My hat is off to these leaders in the Digital media space taking on new, and in one case monumental, challenges. Given their combined track records, the smart money is on all of them to succeed tremendously.

While each has stepped into a unique opportunity, the common thread is that they have chosen paths in which they will be rewarded by NOT tolerating the outdated bureaucracies in which traditional media & marketing execs have tried to pigeon-hole Digital. They don't have time to kowtow to legacies or wade through layers of tepid decision-making defended by "...that's not how we do it here." I fully expect to see bold moves made by these gentlemen and frankly, to see some sacred cows shown the door.

If Vegas put out odds on Sean, Nick and Chris, I wouldn't bet against them.