GroupM confirmed earlier this week that North America CEO Kirk McDonald has decided to leave at year’s end. No reasons were given.  

But given the WPP media group’s growth performance of late, particularly in the U.S. which posted a 4% organic decline in Q3, I wouldn’t be surprised if the company signaled that he was making the right call. Or even urged him to make it.  

GroupM has lost significant business this year in North America including Walgreens, Kimberly- Clark, General Mills, Uber, Signet and Shell. L’Oreal left late last year. Some of those accounts are global, but hundreds of millions of dollars in spending from those departing clients is earmarked for North America. Granted, the firm has won business as well, most recently the global PayPal account. But the losses will contribute to head winds that WPP faces going into 2024.   

GroupM has also slipped considerably in RECMA’s latest Diagnostics Report (covering various growth and other metrics) over the last three years, roughly aligned with McDonald’s tenure. The report is global, but North America weighs heavily in the ranking.   

Mindshare Global CEO Adam Gerhart is adding duties as interim GroupM NA CEO until a successor for McDonald is named.