Omnicom Media Australia Appoints Asier Carazo
Carazo, formerly Chief Strategy Officer at Atomic 212°, joins as the group's first Chief Strategy Officer in January 2027.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Business Strategy
Omnicom Media Australia has hired Asier Carazo as its first group Chief Strategy Officer, with responsibility for strategy across its Australian media agencies. Carazo starts the role in January 2027, and Atomic 212° has not yet named a replacement for him.
Why it matters
The role places one executive in charge of strategy across the holding group's Australian agencies and links local strategists more closely with the wider Omnicom network. Carazo said the greatest value media agencies can bring to clients increasingly sits upstream, in strategy.
Carazo brings more than a decade of experience across media agencies, creative agencies and client-side work, covering more than 40 markets. Atomic 212° has not announced who will replace him.
The players
Omnicom Media Australia
The Australian arm of the global advertising and marketing holding group Omnicom, which oversees several media agencies including OMD, Initiative, PHD and UM.
Asier Carazo
A media strategy executive with more than a decade of experience across media agencies, creative agencies and client-side work, who previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at Atomic 212°.
Kristiaan Kroon
The chief executive of Omnicom Media Australia, to whom Carazo will report in the new role.
The details
Omnicom Media Australia hired Carazo from independent agency Atomic 212°, where he was Chief Strategy Officer. He will report to Omnicom Media Australia CEO Kristiaan Kroon, join the Australian executive committee, and work with the strategy leads of OMD, Initiative, PHD, UM, Hearts United and Mediahub.
Timeline
November 2026: Omnicom Media Australia announces the appointment of Asier Carazo.
January 2027: Carazo starts as group Chief Strategy Officer.
Business Strategy Shift
Omnicom Media's creation of a group Chief Strategy Officer role reflects agency value moving upstream into strategy, which Carazo said is where the greatest value to clients now sits. The move positions Omnicom's Australian agencies to align local strategists more closely with the wider Omnicom network across Oceania and beyond.
For marketers and brand clients in Australia, the move signals that Omnicom Media's local agencies will draw more directly on a single strategy leader and on the wider Omnicom network. Clients may see strategy-led planning playing a larger role in how their media campaigns are developed.
The takeaway
Agencies are increasingly positioning strategy, rather than execution alone, as the core of what they sell to clients. Marketers evaluating agency partners may find it useful to ask how strategy is developed and governed across the network.
Further reading
For more on how agencies are reshaping their leadership around strategy, see Business Strategy.
