Omnicom Group hires first global data privacy chief

Omnicom Group is aiming to bolster its data protection practices with the appointment of its first global chief data privacy officer, responsible for driving its privacy first approach while ensuring clients comply with the increasingly complex worldwide legislation.

Brian Clayton joins from Conduent, a former Xerox company, where he was associate general counsel and chief privacy officer overseeing data privacy and compliance for more than 65,000 employees in over 70 countries.

Having joined in 2002, Clayton designed and implemented privacy programmes across the business to ensure compliance with applicable regulations, including GDPR, and its global equivalents CCPA, GLBA and HIPAA.

Prior to that, Clayton worked at law firm Herzfeld & Rubin and Wentworth Property Management.

Omnicom chairman and CEO John Wren said: “Customers today demand greater insight and control over how their data is being used, making it increasingly important to our clients as they navigate the complexity of data privacy laws and regulations.

“Brian’s extensive background in data privacy that incorporates data ethics, governance and protection will be an asset to our clients and our agencies around the globe. He has the experience and leadership skills we need to ensure compliance for both Omnicom and the clients we serve is always top of mind.”

Clayton, who will be based in New York, added: “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead and coordinate Omnicom’s efforts around data privacy as the industry deals with the end of third-party cookies and new emerging privacy standards around the world.

“I’m passionate about data privacy and am particularly impressed with the company’s privacy-driven data platform. I look forward to applying my knowledge to helping the company adapt to future changes.”

Omnicom’s agencies include Rapp, TBWA, DDB and OMD but its main data insight platform, Omni, was launched in 2018. It is designed to challenge both Omnicom’s rival marketing groups’ systems as well as the likes of Adobe, Salesforce and Oracle.

Last year, it struck a deal with data technology giant InfoSum in a move which the group claims will allow clients to “maximise the value of their data”.

The platform pools creative, media and data-driven marketing functions into one dashboard, and already incorporates data provided by LiveRamp, Experian and Neustar, among others. It was developed and hosted by Omnicom’s data science division, Annalect.