Sorrell’s trusted lieutenant Jon Steel to GPY&R vice chairman and chief strategy officer

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Acclaimed strategic planner and author Jon Steel has been named as chief strategy officer and vice chairman of George Paterson Y&R.Steel, who recently took up residence in Perth, has for the past nine years been the global head of planning for the WPP Group.His decision to join GPY&R was based on what he sees as the potential for the business under the leadership of Nigel Marsh and Russell Howcroft.

Says Steel: “It’s a great agency brand, with even greater promise so it was a pretty compelling offer. Because we share a common philosophy on creativity and planning, I’m certainly not setting out to change what the agency wants or how it works. For me it’s the perfect environment – I’m just looking to do more of the good stuff, more of the time.” 

Widely regarded as one of the best planners in the world, Steel started his career at London’s Boase Massimi Pollitt before joining what is now Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. In ten years he helped grow GS&P from a US $30m regional agency into a US$1 billion national and international force; his planning department was a key factor in the agency’s spectacular growth and creative success. He received a David Ogilvy Gold Award for proving, with the famous got milk? campaign, that research and creativity worked hand in hand, and has won eleven gold Effie Awards (including a Grand Effie) from the American Marketing Association for advertising effectiveness. 

Steel is the author of Truth, Lies & Advertising, an enthusiastic, irreverent and insightful look at what it takes to create great ideas, and Perfect Pitch, an enthusiastic, irreverent and insightful look at what it takes to sell them. Both books have led his peers to describe him as one of the industry’s great practitioners. 

Nigel Marsh, CEO of Y&R Brands, said that securing a talent of Steel’s calibre was a major coup for GPY&R: “He is, without doubt, one of the best strategic brains in the business, and will bring a new level of insight to the GPY&R offering. I’m thrilled he is coming on board.”

Steel will continue to work on special projects for Sir Martin Sorrell: he directs the WPP Fellowship (an elite global graduate recruitment and training program), as well as providing counsel to a range of WPP operating companies. 

Steel said that he looked forward to being part of the GPY&R team: “In Nigel, Russell and the rest of the management team I see kindred spirits – I respect them professionally, but I also know we’ll have a lot of fun together. And when you’re having fun, it’s much easier to do great work.”