Slavi Samardzija is exiting Omnicom’s Media Group’s Annalect in September, with sources interpreting the CEO’s exit as indicative of pending changes within the holding company’s technology and analytics division.
Separate sources familiar with the developments, all of whom requested anonymity to maintain their relationships with the holding company, told Digiday that news of Samardzija’s exit first surfaced during the opening week of July. He will be replaced by Adam Gitlin, who has served as Annalect president under Samadzija since 2016.
An Omnicom Media Group spokesperson confirmed Samardzija’s departure from the holding company, although it remains unclear if the CEO’s exit was part of a broader restructuring. The spokesperson declined to say where Samadzija is going once his time at OMG is finished.
“Under Slavi’s leadership, Annalect expanded into a global powerhouse for data and analytics innovation,” said Florian Adamski, global CEO of Omnicom Media Group, in an email that also confirmed Gitlin as his replacement. “One of his key strengths has always been building exceptional leader-practioner teams – which is why we have every confidence that his successor, Adam Gitlin, will keep Annalect at the forefront of exploration, innovation and transformation.”
Adamski credited Gitlin with playing “a key role in the development of the Omni marketing orchestration platform, and has brought to markets services, capabilities and products that powered transformative business outcomes for our clients.”
One source interpreted Samardzija’s departure as a likely precursor to a strategic restructuring at the holding company and presaged that more high-profile exits could follow, especially as the company prepares for a merger/takeover of Interpublic Group, pending final regulatory approval.
For example, recent moves, such as unifying employees’ email address formats (regardless of the unit they work for), suggest that Omnicom may look to centralize its structure in favor of disparate brands under the OMG umbrella — a move that would mirror that of rival WPP Media.
In late June, Omnicom received (qualified) approval for its proposed $13.5 billion takeover of IPG, a move that would create the industry’s largest holding company, from the Federal Trade Commission. For some, this move means the union of the two is all but a fait accompli, meaning leadership of the holding company will look to realize $750 million in annual cost savings.
Meanwhile, a separate source, who hasn’t had contact with Samardzija since his decision to depart, felt that leadership would have wanted to retain such an influential executive, with all three sources noting his role in shaping Omnicom’s current commercial proposition.
Samardzija first joined Annalect in mid-2014 as its analytics chief, eventually rising to the role of CEO within three years when he helmed the launch of Omni, the companywide operating system and orchestration platform, in 2018.
“As I start my next chapter, I couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished, more grateful for the opportunity of working with this team, or more confident in the continued success of Annalect under the leadership of Adam Gitlin,” wrote Samardzija in an emailed response.
Omni’s launch is widely regarded as a transformative development at Omnicom, with one source informing Digiday that the Omni platform represented the holding company’s media and creative agencies aligning under a single data strategy. In particular, many credit this strategy as instrumental in Omnicom winning Amazon’s $6 billion Americas’ media business, following a six-month competitive pitch.
“He was the guy in the new business pitches talking about the data strategy,” said one source, who also noted how Samardzija, despite leading a team of thousands at Annalect that redefined how holding companies operationalize data, would often avoid the public spotlight, choosing instead to highlight his team members.
“Annalect is where all the strategic things were happening,” added the source, “everyone at the [OMG] media agencies, even though they might not have reported into him, would follow Slavi [Samardzija]’s lead… and with the Omni platform, that set the blueprint for everybody else.”
His departure comes at a time when it’s widely expected that IPG’s Acxiom data unit will become a key ingredient in Omni, whose open-source structure enables it to take in data from any number of sources. Still, the two units have operated under different management. Given that Annalect has been instrumental in building Omni – and Samardzija has been instrumental in running Annalect – it would seem an inopportune time to lose his experience and expertise.
Another source, who once worked at Annalect, noted that Gitlin would likely provide leadership continuity.
“There’s never been a more exciting time – in the industry or within Omnicom Media Group – to lead a team that has been purpose- built for innovation,” said Gitlin in a prepared statement. “Together we will lead our clients into the next era of data driving opportunity.”
