Brian Wieser has become known as one of the top voices among Wall Street’s financial observers. As Senior Research Analyst of Advertising at Pivotal Research Group, he raised the blood pressure of many by declaring television as “the worst form of advertising except all those others which have been tried” for those with awareness-based goals. Nearly four years ago, he accepted a role at one of the world’s largest media buyers.
Now, Wieser is transitioning to his next opportunity.
Discussions of Wieser’s departure from GroupM and WPP have been circling the advertising and marketing world for several weeks.
Late Thursday evening from his Portland, Ore., home, Wieser revealed in a short note distributed via e-mail that January 27 would be his final day with GroupM/WPP.
He invited recipients to contact him by phone or e-mail, and via LinkedIn.
Wieser said, “In 2019 I came into my role to build on foundations established by Rob Norman and the late Adam Smith, keen to add to my knowledge of the industry from time as a securities analyst and at IPG before that, but with an open mind towards whatever would follow.”
He added that he is “incredibly thankful for the time” Wieser was able to spend improving existing products, constructing new frameworks of understanding and broadening his views of the business in collaboration with thousands of WPP colleagues and clients.
With Wieser’s departure, his successor as GroupM’s lead forecaster is, as expected, Kate Scott-Dawkins. The two have worked closely together over the past year. “If you’ve read her work (such as the most recent This Year, Next Year or September’s E-Commerce and Retail Media Forecast) you know she’ll elevate these efforts to even higher levels than I ever took them,” Wieser said. ” WPP, GroupM and everyone outside the company who will rely on her for guidance on the trajectory of the media industry will be in great hands as a result.”
What’s on tap for Wieser? “I aim to be back in contact soon with news on what’s next and look forward to staying in touch,” he said.
On February 6, 2019, RBR+TVBR reported on Wieser’s arrival at groupM, WPP’s media investment group, as Global President of Business Intelligence.
Wieser has been based in Portland since November 2011. And, until joining groupM Wieser was a highly regarded analyst in the marketing, media, advertising and technology fields, earning such names as “Madison Avenue’s de facto Chief Economist” while RBR+TVBR labeled him a “wordsmith of Wall Street” for his prolific writings and insight into some of the nation’s biggest media companies’ financial health.
Wieser is Canadian and received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario. He began his career as a Lehman Brothers associate in 2000. Two years later, he joined Deutsche Bank as an Associate Analyst. In October 2003 he took on the role of EVP/Global Director of Forecasting for Interpublic’s Magna Global. Wieser exited Magna in March 2011 for the CMO role at Simulmedia.
