November 28: Matrix Monday: Announcing Our Third Honoree, Laura Desmond, Global CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group

Laura Desmond was one of the youngest CEOs when appointed to lead Starcom MediaVest Group globally in 2008, but that was only the first of many marks she has made on the agency and communications business. Commanding a staff of more than 7,000 employees, across 129 offices globally, Laura attracts diverse talent around her, executives who bring unconventional thinking that has helped to reinvigorate the role of the agency communications.

However, building a global brand is meaningless without clients for whom to create innovative work. Laura's prowess as a client collaborator is unparalleled: she ushered in and increased partnerships with brands such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Mars/Wrigley, Samsung, Wal-Mart and Microsoft. Clients trust that she will lead them successfully through an evolving media landscape, and will approach challenges as opportunities to champion new solutions.

Forming strategic partnerships is another of Laura's strong suits, as she works to fuse innovation via exclusive relationships with organizations such as TED, The Association of National Advertisers, The American Association of Advertising Agencies and Google. Laura seeks out the most forward-thinking movers and shakers in the world to excite her peers and incite fresh ideas.

Recognizing Laura's unparalleled communications achievements and her status of a true innovator and leader of the media industry, we are honored to name her a 2012 Matrix Award Honoree.

Prior to leading the global network, Laura was CEO of SMG-The Americas where she grew Starcom, MediaVest and Spark business across the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Additionally, she reinvented the big-agency approach to understanding the multicultural consumer by setting up multicultural media agencies MV42 and Tapestry.

But Laura first received national recognition when she was CEO of MediaVest from 2003-2007, during which she tallied up new business wins and scored the recognition "Media Executive of the Year" from Mediaweek as well as Adweek's "Agency of the Year" award several years in a row.

On a personal level, Laura has also been awarded multiple times for her leadership, mentorship and huge contribution to the marketing world. She was named "Ad Woman of the Year" (AWNY, 2009), recognized in The Wall Street Journal's Creative Leadership Series (2007) and the "Women to Watch" issue (2006). Laura was also awarded the Advertising Age "Media Maven" honor (2005) and inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement (2005). To top off her recognition as a woman changing the business world, Laura was named one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes.

Under Laura's purview, SMG has been awarded an outstanding number of accolades and has been recognized by the industry as the most decorated global media network. In 2011 alone, SMG swept Festival of Media, scoring "Network of the Year" and several individual awards. At the Cannes Festival of Advertising, SMG won the most Lions in the media category. RECMA named SMG the No. 1 agency for Global Overall Activity Billings and Overall Billings across the Top 12 Markets for 2010. Most recently, MEDIA magazine recognized SMG as "Network of the Year" in an awards hat-trick in which Starcom and MediaVest were also honored.