Group Press Releases
Aegis Media Announces New Structure for Aegis Media Americas
21 April 2008
David Verklin to move on from Aegis Media
Americas
Sarah Fay promoted to CEO of Aegis Media North America
Creation of Aegis Media Latin America
Aegis Media today announces a number of changes at Aegis Media Americas, its regional business across the USA, Canada and Latin America. Since 1998, Aegis Media Americas revenue has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 21% to $300m in 2007. Reflecting this rapid expansion, the current regional business structure will now be re-organised into two separate geographic and specialist units, with the greater focus enhancing future growth and competitiveness in each region and across all Aegis Media America’s network brands.
As part of these changes, Aegis Media Americas CEO David Verklin is to leave the group later this year, in his tenth anniversary year at Aegis Media. While David will hand over his day-to-day responsibilities, he will remain available to Aegis Media for a number of months. Under David’s leadership, Aegis Media Americas has grown to a broad-based and international communications group, including Carat, Vizeum, Isobar, Posterscope and Velocity: which together grew revenue by 25% last year.
With effect from today, Sarah Fay, currently CEO of Carat in the US and Isobar US, is appointed CEO of Aegis Media North America, responsible for the US and Canada, and a member of the Aegis Media Executive Committee. Since joining Aegis Media in 1998, Sarah has played a pivotal role in the creation of Isobar, now the world’s no.1 digital agency. In July 2007 she became CEO of the newly merged Carat USA and Carat Fusion: the industry’s first online-offline merger. Sarah is highly acclaimed throughout the industry, and has received a wealth of advertising awards.
At the same time, Aegis Media has created Aegis Media Latin America as a new business unit, reporting directly to Mainardo de Nardis, CEO of Aegis Media Global. This reflects the increasing strategic significance of Latin America both for Aegis Media, particularly following the acquisitions of AgenciaClick in Brazil in 2007 and Control Media in Mexico in 2006, and for clients, with rapid market growth in the region. Aegis Media Latin America quadrupled its revenue last year alone, and now has over 500 people, managing many of Aegis Media’s international clients across the region.
Lord Sharman, chairman of Aegis Group plc, said:
“On behalf of the Board and shareholders of Aegis, I would like to thank David for ten years of pioneering leadership in the Americas, growing a $300m revenue business in that time.”
Mainardo de Nardis, CEO of Aegis Media Global, said:
“David has put Aegis Media on the map in the Americas. Under his leadership we have built a diversified marketing communications business, with digital and media at its heart. He leaves a legacy of which he can rightly be proud.
“And I am delighted that we have a trusted management team in place to take the business forward. With Sarah Fay at the helm of our North American agencies, we have a leader who is strong, practical and universally admired. Sarah marries media agency expertise with an extraordinary understanding of digital. She has been groomed for this job over the years and I have no doubt that, together with a strong management team, she will successfully lead us through the next phase of development in North America.”
David Verklin, CEO of Aegis Media Americas, said:
“I have had the privilege of establishing Aegis Media from scratch across the Americas. Many of the most interesting times of my career have come in the past decade, in a marketplace changing almost by the hour. However, Aegis Media has a long pedigree in driving change and revolution. I have watched Sarah go from strength to strength in our business over the past 10 years, and I know that Aegis Media will scale new heights under a new generation of leaders.”
Sarah Fay, CEO of Aegis Media North America, said:
“It is an honour to be leading Aegis Media North America at this time of profound market shifts. I could not be more fortunate in all the colleagues across North America I will work with to do this. We are part of the world’s no. 1 independent media agency group, and globally we are growing faster than anyone else. In the US, we have a market-leading position in diversified marketing services and a reputation for innovation to build on. Altogether, this gives us unique opportunities: to deliver value to our clients from Carat’s integration of offline media and digital marketing strategies, to build up the Vizeum franchise in the USA, to make the most of our top-tier position in Canada and to continue the expansion of our global specialist networks: Isobar, Posterscope and Velocity.”
Note to editors:
Sarah Fay
Sarah Fay joined Aegis Media in 1998 as managing director of Carat Business and Technology. In 2001 she led the launch of Carat Interactive, later Carat Fusion, which grew to become one of the top US full service digital marketing agencies. In 2003 Sarah was appointed CEO of Isobar US: the largest single market in Aegis Media’s full-service digital network. There she delivered significant organic growth, seven US acquisitions and helped to build Isobar into the world’s no. 1 digital agency network.
In 2007 Sarah was appointed CEO of Carat USA, in addition to her leadership of Isobar US, following the merger of Carat USA and Carat Fusion to create one of the world’s first and largest integrated on and offline agencies.
Sarah has been named in ad:tech’s 2007 ‘Industry Achievement Award,’ Advertising Age’s ‘25 Women to Watch,’ Media Post’s ‘Top 100 Media Influentials’ and OMMA’s ‘Top 50 To Know in Online.’ She was also one of B2B Magazine’s Top 100 Business Marketing Influencers in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and recently was named a ‘Future Legend’ by the Ad Club.
Sarah began her career in the media services industry 20 years ago, and had established and managed an online media business prior to joining Aegis Media in 1998.
Contacts:
Charlotte Elston / Hannah Bailey
Aegis Group plc
+44 (0) 7730 546 821/ + 44 (0) 20 7070 7725
Adrienne Scordato
Aegis Media Americas
+1 917 326 7117
Charles Palmer / Tim Spratt
Financial Dynamics
+44 (0) 20 7831 3113
