• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 26, 2007

aQuantive's Avenue A|Razorfish has promoted Clark Kokich to the position of CEO, where he will focus less on regional operations and more on expansion through international growth and the development of emerging media.

"This is more a reflection of changes we've already made within the agency," said Kokich, who most recently served as worldwide president for Avenue A|Razorfish.

"We have a strong regional leadership team now, so I can direct my attention to further expansion and emerging media," he said. "We continue to see a significant increase in interest from clients ready to invest heavily in mobile, RSS, gadgets, widgets, gaming, viral, and social media."

This position is consistent with Kokich's message to clients following Microsoft's announcement to buy aQuantive in May. At the time, Kokich called each one to say the agency's relationship with them would not change following the deal, and that Avenue A|Razorfish would continue to innovate and grow independent of Microsoft.

Also that month, Avenue A|Razorfish named Darin Brown as its first chief strategy officer. Brown, who previously served as president of its Western region, is now responsible for a cross-section of areas--including analytics, strategy, technology, media, creative design, search, user experience and enterprise solutions.

Avenue A|Razorfish has seen profits and prospects rise with international expansion this past year through acquisitions in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, China, and most recently in Japan through partnership with the country's largest ad agency, Dentsu.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, aQuantive's digital marketing unit, which includes Avenue A|Razorfish, had revenue of $80.6 million--up 50% from the same period a year before. Operating income was $20 million, doubling year-over-year.

Kokich joined Avenue A|Razorfish in 1999. Since then, the company has matured into one of the largest U.S. interactive marketing and technology agencies. The agency presently consists of more than 1,600 professionals in 19 offices in seven countries focusing exclusively on digital marketing for such brands as Levi's, Nike, Microsoft, Ford, Disney, AT&T, and Visa.