• by Larissa Faw , August 11, 2014

Ad executive Lori Senecal is moving up the corporate ladder. The current Chairman and CEO of kbs+ has been named President and CEO of the MDC Partner Network. The Partner Network, established last year as a division within the MDC Partners company includes the MDC agency operations and the corporate Strategic Resources unit designed to provide expertise and dedicated resources to those partner firms. 

Senecal will be responsible for deepening relationships under this unique model, working with the agency partners in a strategic counsel role, and providing vision around the MDC resources that best fuel partner agency growth. Senecal will also play a leadership role in partnering with clients to help "optimize seamless structures across partner capabilities."

In this new role at MDC, Senecal will report to Miles Nadal -- chairman, president and CEO of MDC Partners -- who continues to oversee all strategic and operational matters. 

Senecal will work with Andre Coste, who takes on the expanded role of MDC Partner Network chief operating officer to lead Partner Network Operations. He was previously CFO of the Partner Network.

“Everything MDC Partners has done over recent years to bring additional firepower to our infrastructure has been in the interest of our mission -- to fuel the growth and success of our clients and agency partners," says Nadal. "Lori’s experience driving creativity and invention, multinational client work and global expansion, alongside her leadership in technology, digital and analytics, is extraordinary. I have never been more confident that our ambitious network’s structure, culture, and entrepreneurial spirit make it the model of the future for client and partner agency success, and I look forward to building on that opportunity with Lori, Andre and the rest of our management team for years to come.”

Senecal will continue to serve as global executive chairman at kbs+ to focus on global expansion. Ed Brojerdi, formerly president and chief creative officer of kbs+, will become responsible for the New York office as CEO of kbs+ New York. 

“As an agency leader in the MDC family, I know firsthand how instrumental a supportive strategic partner can be in the growth and success of an agency, and how differentiated MDC’s model really is," says Senecal. "I look forward to leveraging that experience to further MDC’s powerful vision, to bringing clients the full strength of MDC’s resources, and to providing added support to all of the MDC agencies across the network.”

Senecal also joins the MDC Partners Board of Directors.