GMR Marketing is reorganizing its top management, with Cameron Parsons taking over as the agency’s chief executive officer, replacing company founder and Chairman Gary Reynolds.
Reynolds, who founded the company in 1979, will maintain his role as chairman.
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The moves, which are effective Jan. 1, were scheduled to be announced this week.
Under the new structure, Parsons — who has been the agency’s chief operating officer since February 2013 — will run the day-to-day operations of the business, with Reynolds focusing more on long-term growth and future opportunities for the company.
“The business has evolved and the management team has evolved,” said Reynolds, 62, last week. “I am not retiring. While I bring my entrepreneurial spirit to the business and the folklore of building the business, we have moved beyond it. I get to focus on some of the things I have already been doing in the direction and the culture of the agency. I can now drill down deep into those.”
The company will not fill the COO position that Parsons has held. Other members of the management team will take on the COO duties.
Agency President Craig Connelly’s role is unchanged.
“Gary is a serial entrepreneur, and his strength is to continue to deliver new ideas and new directions for us to grow,” said Parsons, 52. “If I can help him and run the day-to-day operations, that is a great combination.”
The moves for Parsons and Reynolds are the latest in a year of moves at GMR. Longtime executive vice president Greg Busch left the company in February, and fellow executive vice president Mike Boykin departed the following month. (The duo in September launched a sports marketing agency called Bespoke Sports & Entertainment.) The changes all follow the 2013 merger of GMR and SportsMark.
Parsons said that as the company’s management is reorganized, more top jobs may be moved to GMR’s Milwaukee headquarters. GMR has about 900 employees in 17 offices worldwide.
The company was the winner in the Event and Experiential Marketing category at SportsBusiness Journal’s 2014 Sports Business Awards.
Parsons said he plans to continue to push the international growth of the company.
“My focus has been on how to create infrastructure internationally to support those clients,” he said.
In 2005, Parsons became the managing director in Asia for the Radiate Group, a holding company of agencies within Omnicom that was founded by Reynolds. He held that job in offices in Australia and China. Parsons then moved to Milwaukee in 2009 to work directly with GMR at its headquarters.
“The company continues to grow internationally, and Cameron has the skill set and the experience to transition it very well,” Reynolds said.
