Cohen Named President at Magna Global U.S.

David Cohen has been named president of Magna Global U.S., the intelligence and investment unit of IPG Mediabrands, one of the largest media buying operations.

Cohen had been global chief investment officer of IPG Mediabrands' media agency UM.

Dani Benowitz has been promoted to director of investment at Magna Global U.S. Benowitz, who had been executive VP, integrated investment at UM, will lead Magna’s go-to-market efforts.

The moves, effective Jan. 1, follow the departure of Todd Gordon, who had been managing director of Magna. Gordon moved to TubeMogul, a programmatic advertising company.

“David’s rise to oversee Magna Global U.S. is the natural, next step for a leader that has already so positively impacted our clients and network with his forward-thinking strategies and solutions,” said Henry Tajer, global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, to whom Cohen will report. “He’s now rightly positioned to bring even greater innovation across Magna’s core capabilities, working hand-in-hand with his partners at UM, Initiative, BPN, Cadreon and our other speciality units.”

“I am excited to take Dani’s talent and unparalleled relationships and bring them to bear across the Magna universe,” said Cohen. “Dani is one of the most creative thinkers in the business – always finding a way to achieve the impossible. We have done some great work over the past few years and have no doubt that together, we will continue to drive the marketplace forward.”

Magna said it plans to name replacements for Cohen and Benowitz in the coming weeks.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.