London, UK, November 30, 2017

Merkle appoints Michael Komasinski as EMEA President

Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, and part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has appointed Michael Komasinski as its president of EMEA to drive the agency’s ambitious growth strategy across the region.

Since its first major European acquisition in 2015, Merkle EMEA has grown rapidly and is set to hit over 1,300 employees, with 12 offices across five countries by the end of the year. Komasinski is tasked with taking the agency’s EMEA expansion to the next level, overseeing further acquisitions and new office launches and building on its powerful people-based marketing capabilities.

Representing the next big leap in the evolution of personalisation in an increasingly addressable marketplace, people-based marketing is a holistic approach to managing marketing interactions to known individuals. It is informed by data and powered by technology, enabling brands to maximise customer lifetime value and build brand loyalty over time.

Giulio Malegori, CEO, Dentsu Aegis EMEA, said: “Michael has played a critical role in Merkle’s global expansion. He now brings that experience to EMEA, offering our clients Merkle’s unique capabilities and helping them transform their brands in the digital economy. I look forward to working with Michael as he leads the business into its next phase of growth.”

Prior to his new appointment, Komasinski has been global Chief Operating Officer at Merkle. In this role he was responsible for business performance, capability development, and service delivery in U.S. and EMEA. He has overseen consistent double-digit revenue growth and led a number of key acquisitions for the company.

“The past two years have brought great success for Merkle in EMEA,” said Komasinski. “The digital transformation of advertising and marketing is reaching a pivotal phase, and brands are increasingly looking to work with agencies that have deep roots in data and technology. It’s this heritage that has allowed Merkle to become such a pioneer of people-based marketing. I’m excited to be leading this crucial region in Merkle’s global growth strategy.”

“Michael has shown strong leadership as global COO and he is the perfect choice to lead EMEA,” said David Williams, Merkle’s global chairman and CEO. “The emergence of people-based marketing represents a major milestone for our industry, and brands are only just beginning to discover its potential. Michael will be key in unlocking the full value of this approach for brands across EMEA.”

Williams also paid tribute to the departing EMEA president, Tim Berry, who will leave the business early in 2018: “We’d like to thank Tim for his commitment and dedication to Merkle over the last twenty years and his leadership of our growth in EMEA to date. He’s been an inspiration to the team, and we wish him all the best for the future.”

Merkle’s expertise was recently recognised in The Forrester Wave™: Search Marketing Agencies, Q4 2017 report. Evaluating the state of the search marketing landscape, Forrester gave Merkle the highest possible scores in market research, media, collaboration and revenue criteria, and recommended the agency to marketers that require deep vertical expertise.