Laura Maness has been appointed global CEO of Grey, joining the agency on September 1. Maness will build on Grey’s international capabilities and AKQA Group expertise while bringing people together from across the network to prioritize employee experience and breakthrough, high-performance work for clients. She will shape Grey’s global strategy, playing a pivotal role in talent attraction and retention through a values-led culture, emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion while driving sustainable, responsible growth and impact worldwide.
Maness’ career in advertising, integrated communications and digital spans more than 25 years. Before being appointed global CEO of Grey, Maness served as CEO of Havas Group’s North American flagship agency, Havas New York, driving a culture of purposeful growth for some of the world’s most recognized companies. She also oversaw several specialist practices, including a culture-first creator studio (Annex88) and a data-driven customer engagement agency (Havas CX) in the U.S. Before these responsibilities, Maness served as U.S. chief growth officer for Havas Worldwide North America and managing director of Havas Chicago. Prior to joining Havas, Maness was head of growth for FCB in San Francisco.
Maness said, “As only the sixth CEO in 105 years, the opportunity to renew, galvanize and grow a legendary and celebrated agency like Grey–combined with the unmatched caliber of talent from across the globe–is incredibly meaningful. I look forward to building on the strong foundation of Grey’s storytelling prowess and famously effective work by fueling a culture of creativity, innovation, and continuous impact.”
Ajaz Ahmed, AKQA Group CEO commented, “Laura is entrepreneurial, dynamic and energetic. She unites by building community–not hierarchy–inspiring with an enlightened leadership approach and a proven track record. With a focus on innovation and as a champion of multidisciplinary solutions for clients, Laura is the ideal CEO to help shape Grey’s strategic vision and path ahead. I am looking forward to working in partnership with Laura and the team at Grey.”
Mark Read, CEO of parent WPP, said: “Laura believes in the power of what we do to make a difference in the world, and has an impressive track record of delivering growth for agencies, their people and their clients. I’m delighted she’s joining AKQA Group as global CEO of Grey. Grey is known for outstanding creativity that produces outstanding results, and I’m sure that reputation will only grow under Laura’s leadership.”
Maness’ numerous accolades include being named a Working Mother of the Year and Changing the Game Quantum Leap winner by She Runs It; and most recently, being celebrated as Act Responsible’s Ad Industry Champion of Good at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More