Shantel
Global omnichannel media agency Assembly today announced the appointment of Matt Adams as CEO of Europe, joining the agency on March 27. Adams will oversee all Assembly operations in continental Europe and the UK, with a focus on accelerating the agency’s business development and driving sustainable growth and impact across the region.
With over 20 years of senior leadership experience working across both the media owner and agency sides of the business, Adams is a transformative leader with an exceptional reputation for growth, business development, and client relations.
“We are delighted to welcome Matt to Assembly, where he’ll lead our European business and bring our proposition, ‘find the change that fuels growth,’ to new heights. He is someone who knows how to unlock the potential of his teams, provide immense value to clients, and build strategic and innovative business solutions to drive success. I look forward to our European business continuing to change and grow under his leadership,” said James Townsend, Global CEO of Assembly and Stagwell Brand x Performance Network.
Adams comes to Assembly from Brainlabs, where he was the Global Chief Operating Officer and is credited with scaling the company from a predominantly PPC agency to a full-service digital first media agency. Adams more than quadrupled its size while delivering strong organic revenue growth. He also helped acquire and integrate eight companies across the marketing funnel to bolster the agency’s capabilities. Prior to Brainlabs, Adams was the UK and Ireland Chief Executive of Havas Media Group, working with some of the UK’s most prestigious brands including O2, BBC, Hyundai, PayPal, Emirates, and giffgaff. While at Havas Media, Adams successfully executed a three-year turnaround strategy that culminated in the agency leading the UK New Business Leagues for 2019 and being one of the most awarded UK agencies for its work. Before these responsibilities, Adams led Dentsu’s iProspect, the largest digital agency in the UK at the time.
Adams’ professional accolades include: Chairman of the Content Marketing Association; recognized as one of the top 10 media planners in the UK by Campaign in 2014; named one of Campaign’s top 10 agency leaders in the UK in 2019, 2020 and 2021; member of the IPA Media Futures Group; and was co-chair of the UK’s Campaign Media Week Awards in 2019.
Over the last two years, Assembly has successfully transformed its business from the inside out – resulting in more media AOR engagements and double-digit growth globally and over 1,600 employees across the world. In late 2021, Assembly merged with ForwardPMX to become the flagship omnichannel media agency within Stagwell’s portfolio, and just last year, the agency refreshed its brand identity to signal its next era of growth.
In addition to Adams, Assembly is elevating three agency leaders in its fastest growing regions to CEO:
- North America President Valerie Davis has been promoted to North America CEO
- APAC Managing Director Richard Brosgill has been promoted to APAC CEO
- MENA Managing Director Faisal Dean has been promoted to MENA CEO
Adams’ appointment and Davis, Brosgill and Dean’s elevations are on the heels of a series of global new business wins, product launches, and partner announcements over the last few months. The agency kicked off 2023 with the launch of Clean Media Lab, a new, technology-powered media decarbonization offering first available in Europe, joined Ad Net Zero in the US and UK, and continues on its journey to becoming a B Corp, all tangible evidence of the agency’s ambition to continue developing sustainable and innovative media solutions. The agency also welcomed new clients Mandarin Oriental and T. Rowe Price into its roster and significantly increased its engagement with Lenovo globally.
“Assembly has more than its fair share of top talent, is globally scaled and regionally relevant,” said Adams. “In today’s environment, winning agencies are able to effectively generate value while delivering on smart and innovative marketing and media solutions that fuel growth, and Assembly has that in spades. I couldn’t be joining at a better time.”
Adams, Davis, Brosgill and Dean will report to James Townsend, Global CEO of Assembly and Stagwell Brand x Performance Network. These appointments are effective immediately.
ABOUT ASSEMBLY
Assembly is the modern global omnichannel media agency, bringing data, talent, and technology together to find the change that fuels growth for the best brands on the planet. Our approach connects big, bold brand stories with integrated, global media capabilities that deliver performance and drive large-scale business growth. Our work is powered by our proprietary, in-house technology solution, STAGE, and led by our global talent base of over 1,600 people around the world. We’re purpose-driven at our core and pioneers in social and environmental impact in the agency world. Assembly is a proud member of Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing. For more information, visit assemblyglobal.com.
