Ralph Pardo, who was serving as CEO of the Hearts & Science unit at Omnicom Media Group North America, OMG, was chosen to replace Scott Hagedorn as CEO of the company, a role he assumed immediately.

Pardo, an OMG veteran of more than 14 years, stood out as one of the early leaders of Hearts & Science, where he is credited with being a key part in achieving one of the most important consolidated accounts for the firm in 2016, the one from AT&T.

“Ralph is a practitioner leader, who understands the complexity of challenges facing modern marketers today. He recognizes there are new levers that are integral to success; that we as agency partners have an important role to play in orchestrating media data and content to improve business outcomes at speed,” highlighted Florian Adamski, CEO of OMG Global.

Pardo, appointed after the departure of Hagedorn, who had held the position since 2019, noted upon taking office: “During my time as CEO of Hearts & Science, we’ve been working with clients to balance the science — building strong data driven foundations in support of modern holistic marketing; with the heart — architecting the experiences that accelerate the emotional velocity of connection between brands and people. I see my new role as another balancing act, creating new solutions and services that solve for the disruptive forces of change that have become endemic to our industry.”

Before being named as CEO of Hearts & Science in 2020, OMG, the fourth largest group of media companies in the world, according to Ad Age Datacenter, spoke of Pardo in this way: “He defined a new standard for how media and creative disciplines collaborate to improve client business outcomes.”

“Scott has been with Omnicom Media Group for many years and has made many contributions to the organization. We thank him for everything he has achieved during his tenure and wish him the best of luck with future endeavors,” said Adamski.

Pardo, who is now based in New York, will be focused on “creating and deploying leading investment, activation, transformation, and research products and services that will be fully underpinned by Omni - Omnicom's industry-leading open marketing operating system — to orchestrate better outcomes for marketers in a dramatically changing consumer marketplace.”

Although OMG did not reveal the reasons for Hagedorn's departure, expectations after Pardo's appointment are high. He currently oversees the media network's OMD, PHD, Resolution, Hearts & Science and Optimum Sports units.