• by Hillary Chura , October 1, 2007

Business Driver, Agency Leader

Scott Sorokin

President, Carat

In an age when many marketers and ad agencies are eyeing digital media as a way to connect with consumers and boost revenues, Carat president Scott Sorokin can be quiet on the subject. It may come as a surprise considering the digital prowess at his agency, where the menu includes CRM, mobile, media planning and buying as well as creative.

“It’s not about being traditional or being digital,” he says. “It’s how does TV affect search, and how does social networking impact the total mix? And when do you stop using one and start using the other? The trick is going to be to get all these different channels — from TV to search to social networking — to talk to each other.”

A veteran of direct and integrated marketing, Sorokin sees an agency’s mission as helping drive business, not just addressing marketing issues. To those companies who just want someone solely to execute their plans, Sorokin says they just don’t have the right agency.

“We want them to go from ‘I don’t care about them’ to ‘I couldn’t live without them,’ ” says Sorokin, whose agency is the country’s fourth largest media shop with $7.06 billion in billings.

Sorokin came to Carat as president of Carat Fusion, its digital and direct marketing arm, in April 2006 from McCann’s MRM Worldwide, where he ran Intel Corp. A year later, he was appointed president of Carat. The strategist managed Modem and Digitas’ West Coast office after co-founding Grey Interactive Worldwide. There, he helped build Dell.com. At the time, site revenues were less than $20,000 a day. When he left, he says, they topped $50 million every 24 hours.

With clients Adidas, Reebok, Pfizer, Wachovia and Procter & Gamble, Sorokin says Carat — part of Aegis — can change how business views marketing and media. It’s not just in terms of the millions spent on media placement, but in how products infiltrate a consumer’s mindset — from awareness to purchase.