• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 31, 2021

GroupM media agency Essence has appointed industry veteran Richard Hartell Global Chief Client Officer, overseeing the agency’s relationship with Google. 

Hartell spent over a decade at Publicis Groupe, lastly serving as Chief Strategy Officer/Global President of Strategy and Transformation at Publicis Media, a post he left at the end of last year. 

“Richard has a long track record in our industry,” said Essence Global CEO Kyoko Matsushita. “Google is a longtime partner of ours and we’re excited to have Richard lead this relationship with his innovative thinking. He understands our data-driven approach to marketing and will help Essence continue to lead the industry by delivering better media experiences.” 

Earlier this year in a MediaPost commentary about the evolving post-cookie Internet, Hartell wrote: “My hope is that a new breed of companies will build solutions from the ground-up using AI and NLP technology to finally enable marketers to target video based on imagery not just audio track, empower us with richer page analysis that brings to the fore a nuanced understanding that goes beyond looking at a few keywords on the page -- and most importantly, breaks down the existing data silos to create a single outcomes platform to provides transparency into what really drives consumer receptivity.” 

Hartell added that “as the next age of the internet plays out, new companies that are focused on understanding, identifying and leveraging the right moments and respecting consumer's right to privacy, will be the ones that succeed.” 

And that, he concluded, “will be good for the whole ecosystem.”