Alex Leikikh remains MullenLoweโs chairman and adds EVP responsibilities at IPG
Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) has announced that Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency, has been promoted to global CEO of MullenLowe Group. She will also continue in her role as CEO at The Martin Agency.
As Cavallo assumes the global CEO role at MullenLowe Group, she will continue to report to Alex Leikikh, who remains chairman, MullenLowe Group. In related news, Leikikh has been named an executive VP of Interpublic where he will oversee several of IPG’s U.S.-based independent creative agencies.
The elevation of Cavallo to her new role builds on her long-term record of success. Cavallo joined The Martin Agency as CEO in December 2017 and revitalized the agency's culture and direction.
In her expanded role, Cavallo will be taking on oversight of leading international creative network MullenLowe Group, a global creative boutique of distinctive and diverse agencies offering brand strategy, advertising, customer experience, PR and social influence work, as well as purpose and sustainability consulting. As CEO of MullenLowe Group, Cavallo will oversee 20 offices in 13 countries, across the world’s top commercial markets with major hubs in the U.S., London, Mumbai, Singapore and Bogota.
“Kristen is the ideal person to build on what our teams have achieved at MullenLowe,” said Philippe Krakowsky, CEO, IPG. “The agency is consistently recognized for being among the top-performing networks for effectiveness and creative return on investment for our clients. Kristen’s experience, leading creative organizations to heightened levels of success and growth, will be a great asset for all of MullenLowe’s partners. She’s a leader that people want to follow, and she’s proven that she can attract and grow the industry's best talent. That’s essential, given the speed at which marketing is evolving and the need all businesses have for leaders who can bring together diverse teams with a range of skills and expertise. Having known Kristen for many years, I’m confident that the more expansive the stage we provide for her, the greater her positive impact can be.”
“Mullen is where I fell in love with advertising,” said Cavallo. “And my career’s biggest risks and deepest rewards happened at Martin. I’m so excited about this opportunity to work with them both, because I get to do work I love with people I love.”
Cavallo started her career at Mullen in 1994, when the agency consisted of one office in Wenham, Massachusetts. She moved to The Martin Agency in 1998 and rose through the strategy and new business ranks. As Director of Business Development, Cavallo helped to double Martin’s billings. Cavallo then moved back to Mullen in 2011 as chief strategy officer and was promoted to president of the Boston headquarters office in 2014. She worked alongside Leikikh before and after the merger of Mullen and Lowe & Partners.
Leikikh added, “Both Kristen and The Martin Agency know exactly who they are. For each, their positioning is clear, the work is brilliant, and the clients are true long-term partners. Kristen has one of the strongest leadership teams in the industry at Martin and her team worked together with great success during challenging times. Best of all, she has relationships with everyone at MullenLowe and has the trust of our teams around the world. When Philippe, Kristen and I started talking about next steps for Kristen and me within IPG, this was such a logical evolution of our partnership.”
In Leikikh’s new role as an EVP within IPG, he will oversee the operations of a broad range of creative brands based across the U.S., including Campbell-Ewald in Detroit; Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis; Deutsch New York; The Martin Agency in Richmond; Tierney in Philadelphia; and the MullenLowe Group. In addition, Leikikh will collaborate with IPG on special projects related to shared services that support and enhance creative capabilities across the group.
“Alex has a track record of delivering results across every metric critical to an agency’s success,” said Krakowsky. “He was instrumental in the global rebranding and repositioning of MullenLowe when the two agencies merged in 2015. Under his leadership, the new agency network saw growth in new business, creative recognition and increases in its effectiveness rankings. I look forward to working with him as he finds new ways to drive the same kind of growth within each of the unique individual cultures of a number of our domestic independent agency brands.”
Leikikh was appointed global CEO of MullenLowe Group in May 2015, upon the merger of IPG agencies Mullen and Lowe & Partners. Previously, he served in a series of increasingly important leadership roles over six years at Mullen, starting as managing director, then president, and finally CEO leading into the merger. With Leikikh at the helm, Mullen has been one of the most awarded and fastest-growing agencies in the U.S. and internationally.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this yearโs Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa โT-Rexโ Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shieldsโ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More