Steve Williams

Steve was fortunate enough to have grown up in a full service agency environment (BMP DDB), giving him creative roots that continue to influence his approach to both leadership and the work itself. He’s as driven in his pursuit of the quality of [effective] ideas, as he is towards how media and technology can drive the execution of those ideas.

He is enthusiastic about creating and retaining an energetic organizational culture; nurturing conditions whereby people can seed and grow ideas together. Leading great people, building strong teams, and driving impactful creativity, get him up early. As such, Steve has always subscribed to a people-first philosophy, believing that a powerful and respectful culture begets results in a creative business.

Steve began his career at Bates; with time at Leagas Delaney, Yellowhammer, Lintas [Initiative] Sydney, BBDO and BMP along the way. As BMP evolved to OMD, Steve grew with the company, working his way up from head of TV trading, to managing director of OMD UK, and, subsequently, OMD Group CEO.

Steve left the UK in May 2012 to pursue his career with Omnicom in the USA – becoming president of PHD in the USA. Steve was part of the team that earned PHD’s Global Network of the Year accolade from AdWeek in 2012, in large part down to a strong US business performance. More recently (commencing June 2014), Steve has begun a new journey with GroupM’s Maxus, leading the agency’s North American operations as CEO.