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Omnicom Media Group\u2019s high-growth agency brand Hearts & Science has promoted UK managing director Garrett O\u2019Reilly to chief executive after he helped transform the agency\u2019s fortunes in the UK market.<\/p>\n
In his new role, O\u2019Reilly will take greater responsibility for the agency’s growth and bolster his leadership team to provide operational support.<\/p>\n
His promotion follows a year in which media billings grew by 20%, with client wins including Peloton, Hargreaves Lansdown and SumUp as well as the retention, without a pitch, of the GoCompare business.<\/p>\n
Only this week, the agency was appointed by Virgin Voyages\u00a0as its UK media agency partner.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Reilly, who was part of the management team that set up Hearts & Science in the UK in 2017, sits on the Omnicom Media Group UK board and will continue to report to OMG\u2019s UK chief executive, Dan Clays.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Garrett\u2019s leadership, the agency has real momentum and I’m looking forward to him continuing that growth trajectory,\u201d Clays said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve grown the business, winning Virgin Voyages this week and Peloton, Hargreaves Lansdown and other clients. They are developing a reputation in the market for working with scale-up businesses. Garrett has also brought in fresh talent, such as [head of digital] Louis Wedgbury from ForwardPMX and this is starting to pay dividends.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is hugely trusted by his clients, everyone at Hearts and the rest of our OMG UK Board and, as a leader, has the mind of a strategic planner, the technical nous of a digital specialist and the way he has taken the lead on sustainability reflects his commitment to the wider industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clays said O\u2019Reilly\u2019s promotion provides space to build the Hearts & Science leadership team in the future, but would not be drawn on which positions the agency is targeting.<\/p>\n
It could reasonably be expected that with O\u2019Reilly more focused on growth and key clients, he will need a deputy that takes a hands-on role for running the day-to-day operation of the business.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Reilly helped set up Hearts & Science in the UK market as head of client experience before becoming managing director the following year.<\/p>\n
Prior to this he spent nearly five years at M2M (which became Hearts & Science), having started his career at OMD.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud of everything the team has achieved in that time. It\u2019s a testament to our people, our technology and our work that we\u2019ve so rapidly become one of the UK\u2019s top 20 media agencies,\u201d O’Reilly said.<\/p>\n