Media Headliner: Cranmer makes his return to the media coalface.(Mark Cranmer)(Isobar)(Occupation overview)

Mark Cranmer has ended his four-year exile by taking the reins of Aegis Media's digital network Isobar.

It was only a matter of time. When Mark Cranmer announced in 2005 that he was leaving Starcom MediaVest, where he'd been the EMEA chief executive, the consensus was that he'd soon be back. The media business was surely in his blood.

And the assumption persisted even when, in 2006, he chose to join WPP's market research company Research International as its chief executive.

It was undented even in February 2008, when, having moved on from Research International, he reappeared not as a major force but as a more shadowy presence, working for Aegis as a consultant. Ah yes, some said, but this, surely, was merely as precursor to him being found a more senior role.

All of which only goes to prove that, if you stick to your guns, you're bound to be right …