Catching agency watchers off guard, Don Scales is stepping down as CEO of iCrossing, effective immediately.
Stepping in as CEO for Scales is Brian Powley, presently iCrossing’s North
American president, parent company Hearst Corp. said Wednesday.
Taking the reins from iCrossing founder Jeff Herzog about five years ago, Scales is credited with expanding the
agency’s scope from search marketing to social and display, as well as overseeing its sale to Hearst for $235 million in 2010.
In an interview on Wednesday, Powley said he plans to
pick up exactly where Scales left off.
“Over the next year, we’ll be building more relationships like the one we have with Beam Inc., where we apply full-services capabilities
ranging from social media to creative design,” Powley said. “I am committed to building digital AOR relationships for global brands at the CMO level.”
“Being global
is central to our strategy for growth,” said Powley. “We're expanding global accounts with brands such as LG Electronics and LEGO. One of our biggest challenges is to help clients focus on
audiences instead of media channels and to understand consumer behavior across different digital touchpoints, such as Facebook, mobile apps and Web sites."
“Many marketers feel
overwhelmed by the volume of audience data available to them, and we're evolving our own Connected Marketing Platform to help clients focus less on big data and more on audience insight.”
“We see our unique relationship with Hearst as a secret weapon,” Powley added.
Having previously served at OgilvyOne Worldwide, MRM Worldwide and Modem Media, Powley
joined iCrossing in 2007.