• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 25, 2014

Omnicom direct specialist Rapp, part of the holding company’s Diversified Agency Services, has appointed Alexei Orlov as its new CEO, effective next month. He succeeds Bob Horvath who had served as CEO for the past eight years, and who will continue as the agency’s Global Chairman.

Previously Orlov was CMO for Volkswagen Group’s Greater China and other Southeast Asian nations region. Earlier he help positions at The Partnership and WPP’s Wunderman, also a direct specialist.

“Alexei brings nearly three decades of experience as a global specialist in brand architecture, cross-cultural marketing deployment and operational change management,” said Dale Adams, DAS Chairman and CEO and to whom Orlov will report.

“I am confident that his well-known passion for bringing together dynamic teams to support and make a difference for clients of all sizes, as well as his proven capabilities as a client- and agency-side leader, business strategist and branding expert, will add enormous value to RAPP and, most importantly, its worldwide portfolio of clients.”