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Beth Sidhu

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BCW Global veteran to foster a culture of collaboration and lead people operations, with focus on diversity and inclusion

NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — (NASDAQ: STGW) — Stagwell Inc (“Stagwell” or “The Company”) today announced the appointment of Stephanie Howley as Chief People Officer, reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Penn. Howley – a 20-year veteran of human resources and people operations – will focus on creating programs and infrastructure to provide Stagwell’s global network of talent with unparalleled career exploration and development opportunities.

The appointment comes on the heels of the combination of the former Stagwell Group with MDC Partners, which formed Stagwell Inc., a top ten global marketing company.

“Stagwell’s equation for success is built on a simple understanding: world class talent paired with cutting-edge technology drives better results for the modern marketer,” said Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn. “You can’t cut your way to greatness; by doubling down on our investment in our talent and the culture across the organization, we’re building a greater runway to client success and growth for the new company. Stephanie’s deep expertise will be crucial as we embark on this new journey.”

“Stagwell is fortunate to have an exciting blend of award-winning creatives and best-in-class technologists who, together, can transform marketing for our clients,” added Howley. “I look forward to supporting our agency partners and, in particular, our diversity and inclusion efforts as we drive performance through collaboration in an environment where each individual agency culture can thrive.”

Howley boasts over 20 years of experience leading people operations and strategy as Executive Vice President, Managing Director, People Team, North America for WPP’s BCW Global, which was named Global Agency of the Year by Provoke Media at the 2020 Sabre Awards. In that capacity, she led the successful integration of people operations in North America during the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe. Prior to that, she served as EVP, Human Resources for Cohn & Wolfe Group, a tenure during which the agency was consistently listed as a “Best Place to Work” by The Holmes Report, PRWeek, Crain’s NY, Ad Age, and PRNews. Howley was the first human resources professional to win PR Week’s 40 under 40 in 2012.. She also previously served on the Board of the LAGRANT Foundation, whose mission is to increase diversity in the advertising, marketing and public relations industries. Her experience will support Stagwell’s network of agencies as they bring together both the art and science of marketing to drive results for clients.

Howley rounds out an expanded Human Resources and Talent Development team based out of Stagwell’s global campus in New York, including Director, Human Resources Stephanie Kwok, and Human Resources Generalist Alexa Munoz.

For more information on Stagwell, please visit www.stagwellglobal.com

About Stagwell. Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 30+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Contact:

Beth Sidhu
beth@stagwellglobal.com
(202) 423-4414

SOURCE: Stagwell Inc.

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That’s in part thanks to Evin Shutt, the MDC shop’s very first employee, who was elevated to Global CEO, and Matt Murphy and Carlo Cavallone, who were elevated in December of 2020 to chief creative officer roles. The pair also became a part of 72andSunny’s newly formed Creative Leadership Council, a restructuring of its creative department, comprised of creative leaders across its offices around the globe.

“Whether you’ve been here for four months or 14 years, the defining characteristic has always been creativity,” Shutt says. “Even when we announced Carlo and Murphy’s promotions it was along with the Creative Leadership Council, which is about democratizing creative leadership across the company to make sure that we have a diversity of voices represented.”

Last year the agency received critical acclaim, including 4 Emmys, for its film for the National Football League that aired immediately before the Super Bowl kickoff.

“The Next 100” started with a teenager performing a kick return across the country alongside 32 of his friends. The kid comes across NFL stars and legends on his journey urging him to “take it to the house”—and he does, running onto the actual Big Game playing field.

In the 2021 Super Bowl, the agency created an inspiring pregame moment by having a hologram of Vince Lombardi, iconic coach and social justice ally, deliver a speech about resiliency and unification. The project used AI to replicate Lombardi’s voice and the speech used words inspired from some of his actual speeches.

(Source: Ad Age) 

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“YML is the agency built for transformation in the year everything changed.” That’s a line from the agency’s Ad Age A-List submission and we couldn’t have said it better.

During 2020, the MDC Partners digital production and design agency brought on 12 new clients, hired 150 people and increased revenue 60% as it worked with marketers such as  Kaiser Permanente, Thrive Market and State Farm to rethink and reshape their businesses during the pandemic, including how they interact with consumers.

YML created for Kaiser Permanente a user interface for telehealth designed to “provide a seamless transition from in-person healthcare to a remote digital experience,” resulting in a 33% increase in user engagement on a redesigned app. For State Farm, it built a new digital platform enabling easier access to services like roadside assistance and accident repair. And for Thrive Market, YML implemented a data-driven customized and personalized experience for online shoppers that increased first-time orders by 16%.

Led by CEO Ashish Toshniwal, the Redwood City, California-based agency says that 40% of its employees are BIPOC and its executive team is 30% female. Its team is made up of 65% technologists, 25% designers, 10% product strategists who are diverse geographically; its last hands-on call had 150 people from six continents, more than 20 countries, and 16 U.S. states.

YML isn’t a traditional choice for this list; but this year has been anything but traditional. “Many of our competitors are essentially the digital side of Madison Avenue,” says YML. “They will sell clients with a fancy deck, front-load research and strategy, and then six to 12 months later comes ‘the work.’ YML is the Silicon Valley, outcome-driven, digital product company balancing and blending sexy design with cutting-edge technology; all while, critically, driving business impact.”

(Source: Ad Age)