UM Names Deidre Smalls-Landau U.S. Chief Marketing Officer and EVP, Global Culture

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- UM, the global marketing and media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, today announced the appointment of Deidre Smalls-Landau to the role of U.S. Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately. Smalls-Landau will oversee UM's strategic branding, platforms and initiatives, carrying over her previous responsibilities as global head of culture, to ensure a broader impact for the diversity-based cultural framework she spearheaded at the agency. Smalls-Landau will report to UM U.S. CEO, Lynn Lewis.

"As a key member of the UM team, Deidre has worked relentlessly to strengthen the agency's product and culture by positioning diversity as a true competitive advantage that can help drive business results," said Lewis. "In her expanded role as CMO, she will continue to champion under-represented segments, ensuring cultural data and insights are at the core of our business and branding, driving better outcomes for our brand and for our clients."

Under Smalls-Landau's leadership, UM launched Remix Culture, the first culturally-focused iteration of its annual Wave X study that tracks social and digital media usage and motivations globally. The recently released findings revealed four key trends shaping modern consumer behavior: Resist; Retrograde; Reglocalize; and Recreate. The study informs marketing strategies to ensure cultural connectivity and relevance. Smalls-Landau also spearheaded the launch of UM's most ambitious diversity initiative, Unity 20/40, which aims to increase diverse representation within the agency by mirroring the projected U.S. ethnic population of the 2040, by 2020.

"I strongly believe that having diversity as a filter for everything we do is a catalyst for cultural transformation and business growth, and an imperative for creating meaningful impact within all levels of an organization," said Smalls-Landau. "I'm excited for the opportunity to play a greater role in applying cultural perspective in how we go to market as we think about audience behaviors and trends."

Smalls-Landau is a 2018 Adweek Media All-Star and recipient of the She Runs It Working Mother of the Year award. She served as a judge on the 2018 Cannes Glass Lion Jury, as well as the 2018 Global Festival of Media juror. Additionally, Smalls-Landau is the IPG representative for the Time's Up/Advertising Steering Committee and a member of the 4A's Media Leadership Council where she advises the industry's leading trade organization on policy, programming and best practices.

ABOUT UM
UM is a strategic media agency committed to proving that media is a topline growth driver as much as an efficiency play. We believe that better science and better art deliver better outcomes for our clients. We deliver science through the transformational power of business analytics and real-time data intelligence. We deliver art through creating moments that matter in media to deliver momentum for brands. As the leading global media network in IPG Mediabrands, UM operates in over 100 countries, with more than 5,000 people innovating on a roster of global clients including Accenture, American Express, BMW, Coach, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Fitbit, GoPro, Johnson & Johnson, Quicken Loans, Sony, Spotify and The Hershey Company.

SOURCE UM