OMG’s Hearts & Science names U.S CEO and chief operating officer

Omnicom Media Group has named Christopher Stanger as the U.S. CEO of Hearts & Science.

Stanger most recently served as president, a post he took on last year in addition to his role as managing director of business leadership. He succeeds Ralph Pardo, who was named the North America CEO of OMG in March. 

“Chris is a true platform thinker who brings a deep understanding of the macro factors reshaping business models today, and is adept at bringing together media, data and technology to counsel clients on modern marketing transformation,” Pardo said in a statement.

He added that Stanger's "real-world experience developing growth strategy, building distributed analytics approaches and hands-on-keyboard digital activation expertise will assure Hearts’ position as the marketing partner that helps brands turn today’s disruption into tomorrow’s disproportionate growth.”

Hearts & Science Executive Director for Client Solutions Dana Basile has also been elevated to chief operating officer of the agency.

No successors were named for Stanger's or Basile's prior roles.

Latest moves

The appointments mark the latest executive moves at Omnicom’s media division. In July, Christina Hanson was named the CEO of OMD USA. In November 2021, Daryl Simm, previously the CEO of OMG, was named the president and chief operating officer of Omnicom as part of a succession plan for Omnicom’s CEO John Wren. In the same month, Florian Adamski was named the new CEO of OMG, and his previous position as CEO of OMD Worldwide was filled by George Manas, who previously served as chief media officer of OMD U.S.

“Dana’s ability to translate clients’ business challenges into operational solutions has been critical to Hearts’ success in winning and keeping clients,” Stanger said in a statement.

Hearts & Science, whose clients include Warner Media Discovery, AT&T, the New York Times and Boston Beer Co., has picked up significant accounts this year, including Reynolds Consumer Products, Hefty, Kaiser Permanente and FedEx.

“Clients today need agencies to be more than a media partner or a creative partner; they need transformation partners,” Stanger said in a statement. “As CEO, my priority will be building the capabilities, collaborations and community of talent needed to meet and deliver this higher mandate.”