Michael Kassan and the ad industry’s future—insiders on whether a connector role still matters

With the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity only weeks away, speculation is rising over whether one of the event’s key figures—Michael Kassan—will storm the beaches with a new venture to rival MediaLink, the company he exited in March amid a legal fight with parent company UTA. Cannes is perhaps the perfect place to launch a new company dedicated to the wheeling, dealing and influence peddling the former MediaLink CEO specializes in. Yet, while there is little doubt Kassan intends to remain a master matchmaker on behalf of advertisers and marketers, there is some debate in the industry over whether that role is still relevant in today’s fast-changing ad world. To be sure, the ad business was in a far different place when Kassan, 73, gained prominence for his expansive Rolodex and, as a result, the role of the uber connector has evolved, according to 17 people who spoke with Ad Age for this story, including those close to Kassan, MediaLink clients and two former MediaLink executives. Most of these people requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic and out of fear of hurting industry relationships. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs These people said that the emergence of AI, the increasing power of creators in marketing, the debut of new ad tech companies, and the evolution of events have moved the marketing ecosystem beyond relationship building. Kassan—while still not ready to reveal just what he will do next—strongly disputes that notion. In an interview with Ad Age, he said marketing is still rooted in relationships, and given today’s fragmented world, “the convening power is more important than ever.” “When relationships are changing, when we’re talking about DTC, and that doesn’t just mean direct-to-consumer but direct-to-creator, as well; as the relationship equation changes, the convener is more important than ever,” said Kassan. He said what he provides the industry, being able to “bring the disparate ideas together” through the lens of “martech and adtech,” and all of the other emerging players, is more critical today than it was when he got his start. Changing needs Marketers are under increasing pressure “to balance brand marketing and performance marketing with personalization,” one holding company executive said, and agencies are trying “to rejigger our workforce” to stay relevant to these changing needs. For this reason, the executive argues that there needs to be someone in the middle connecting the dots, building trust with people and making connections. Despite the many changes the pandemic sparked in the way people work and the influence of new technologies such as AI on workflow and efficiencies, at the end of the day, the executive said, advertising and marketing remains a relationship-based industry. “CMOs are coming under the gun,” said Michael Duda, managing partner at Bullish. “They need to network more than ever and no one else can direct traffic like Michael.” Duda, who works with a roster of DTC brands, said Kassan is also someone who can help newcomers to the industry, including ad tech players, “validate themselves to CMOs. He is unmatched in terms of his gravitas and relationship building in the advertising and marketing industry,” he said. Still, some said the industry is moving away from the see-and-be-seen scenes that helped define Kassan’s success and that all of the schmoozing might not resonate as much with the new cohort of ad and marketing executives who are more concerned with performance. “They [young marketers] value their time, versus spending time going out on somebody’s ship,” a creative agency CEO said, referring to yachts at Cannes. “I was at one of the last big events at Cannes; it was lavish but is that what our industry is anymore?” Young CMOs, this person said, need “connection,” but they’re not looking for it in the same way that the older guard was. An agency owner said newer and emerging brands that are rising in popularity are not participating in the industry the way more traditional and established brands did. While this person said Kassan’s style of matchmaking “is still relevant,” the industry is changing, and younger CMOs are not as concerned with getting headlines or media attention, which is something Kassan could do for them. “He’s built for the CMO who loves the limelight,” the agency owner said of Kassan. Kassan argued that convening goes far beyond getting people to show up for events. “The convening power is about speaking multiple languages and understanding the equation; that’s convening power,” he told Ad Age. Still, the line of people waiting to get access to Kassan tells a different story, said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Integrated Media Co., a special-purpose digital media investment company, who sits on the Interpublic Group of Cos. board of directors. Miller said there is still high demand to get into Kassan’s parties and waiting lists for meetings from both new and tenured executives. “The business is becoming more data-driven, but it still has very much at its heart a set of relationships” that are critical to the way it operates,” Miller said. “Like any industry, Michael understands this as well as anybody.” What’s next While it is unclear what exactly is next for Kassan, one thing is certain—he isn’t going away any time soon. Behind the scenes, Kassan has been proactively calling some of his staunch supporters ahead of launching his next venture, according to multiple people, including one agency executive who said Kassan called his shop to essentially say, “‘I’ll be back, so if you’ve got projects, wait.’” According to another person close to the matter, Kassan has also been getting “dozens” of calls from former clients asking when his next venture will be ready to launch. Kassan declined to comment on these conversations. There is still an ongoing legal battle that will determine whether Kassan can open a competing company to MediaLink, which he founded in 2003. UTA’s suit against Kassan has focused on whether he can compete since March, when it moved its other original claims centered around financial improprieties into arbitration, meaning behind closed doors. On May 15, the judge overseeing the case then ruled to move UTA’s non-compete claims into arbitration, as well. “Our focus is on supporting the great work MediaLink has always done and continues to do on behalf of its clients, and we look forward to unlocking new opportunities together,” a UTA spokesperson said regarding the lawsuit. “Separately, we will continue to pursue this matter through legal channels and are confident that the facts will prevail.” Kassan has argued that his former parent company is trying to tarnish his reputation and that he is entitled to form a new company because he resigned on March 6, before UTA said it fired him on March 7. “No, there are no existing non-competes, or restrictive covenants, as Michael waived his $10 million severance as set forth in his agreement,” Sanford Michelman, Kassan’s attorney, said. “All UTA has done since then is try to tarnish Mr. Kassan’s reputation since they know they can’t keep him from competing and hope the impact is a synthetic non-compete. It won’t work.” Some ad leaders suggest that Kassan has done enough in building MediaLink and should just let it thrive by not creating another venture—that he’s only going to hurt the talented people who still work there whom he himself recruited. Kassan declined to comment. Still, one recruiter who knows Kassan said he truly seems to love the industry and shouldn’t be faulted for wanting to continue working in it. “Michael Kassan isn’t going to wake up one day and become a yoga teacher,” this person said. Behind Kassan’s industry rise Kassan got his start as a tax lawyer for the entertainment industry. He would eventually join Interpublic Group of Cos. media buying agency Western Initiative Media Worldwide in 1994 and serve as president of U.S. operations, where he also was caught up in a messy breakup. The recent legal back and forth had UTA pointing to civil judgments against Kassan and earlier arbitrations, including a 1999 lawsuit with his former employer Western Initiative Media Worldwide, in its complaint. According to the person close to the matter, Kassan filed a suit against Western Initiative Media Worldwide that was then settled. After that, IPG became a venture partner of Kassan’s and a MediaLink client for more than 15 years. Kassan went on to start MediaLink in 2003 and grow it into a behemoth that has been sold twice: first to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity parent Ascential in 2017, in a deal valued at $207 million, and then to UTA in 2021 for $125 million. MediaLink is a major player in ad agency reviews and placements of key chief marketing officers and CEOs, such as former Dentsu Global CEO Wendy Clark and the 4A’s President and CEO Marla Kaplowitz. It also offers consulting on mergers and acquisitions, marketing, media and tech. MediaLink is currently handling a CRM agency review for General Motors and consulting on the automaker’s media model, as well as a creative review for Adobe. It also just wrapped up a Gap media review, resulting in Omnicom taking the business. Kassan’s inner circle includes the likes of Carolyn Everson, a former Meta exec and Instacart president; Diego Scotti, the former longtime CMO of Verizon who became executive VP and general manager of PayPal’s consumer group and global marketing and communications last December; and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter). “He could pick up the phone to [Omnicom Group CEO] John Wren or to [Publicis Groupe Chairman] Maurice Lévy; he could pick up the phone to anybody on the agency side, tech,” a second former MediaLink executive said, “[Meta CEO and Founder] Mark Zuckerberg, you name it … He’s one of the very few people who could actually do that, in the entirety of the advertising and media industry, there’s nobody quite like that.” That’s the kind of power base you don’t just build overnight. Jordan Bitterman, former chief marketing officer of TripleLift, who has worked with MediaLink and Kassan in various roles, described Kassan as the glue that helps bring fractured parts of the industry together. “Our industry—every industry, really—contains large fractures because most parties operate in their own self-interest,” he said. “Michael’s role has been to create opportunities to bring those fractured parties together. Michael and MediaLink have obviously benefited from this dynamic. That kind of tax on participants is something most players have benefited from and have shown great propensity to continue. I would argue that Michael and his brand is needed more than ever.” “No one can deny that Michael Kassan has built a unique business model that has been delivering real value for clients for decades,” Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun said in a statement to Ad Age. “At MediaLink, he has attracted, retained and grown a fantastic pool of talent. When it comes to his future, I’m sure Michael will have strong support in the industry when he bounces back, as he always has done.” Next big opportunity When asked what the industry wants and needs next from Kassan, most people interviewed for this story said they don’t want to see him launch a direct competitor to MediaLink, as there is already a slew of consultancies in the marketplace and many believe that MediaLink can continue a viable business without Kassan at the helm. Where Kassan has the potential to thrive without overcrowding the market with an exact replica of MediaLink is in events, some people said. “I do think Michael is great at being a convener,” the holding company executive said. “He is the mayor of the Cannes advertising festival. There are so many complaints about Cannes, some rightfully so, and how to push it to maybe a different city like Barcelona or New York, where you don’t have to stay in shitty apartments 15 minutes away. Boy, that would be great for Michael to oversee those tentpole events and make them work better. That’s a place where Michael could shine.” Read more: Inside Cannes activation costs for brands and agencies As for Cannes this year, the person close to the matter said Kassan will show up and create the space where partnerships are fostered as he has for the last 20 years. A second consultant said they could see Kassan investing in one of the industry’s tentpole events such as CES or Possible. Kassan is chairman of Beyond Ordinary Events, the organization that formerly owned Possible. This isn’t too far off base from the work Kassan had already been doing at MediaLink. Kassan’s friendship with iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman, for example, helped form a partnership that secured major music acts from the likes of Elton John to Lizzo at their co-hosted MediaLink and iHeartMedia VIP parties at the Cannes Lions festival each June. “Michael is the ultimate connector and thinker—no one does it better, and he’ll be a success with whatever he chooses as his next act,” Pittman said in a statement to Ad Age. But with admiration for Kassan also comes a sense of fear. Some people said Kassan picks his favorites, he rotates who is closest to him and when you are in his inner circle, you reap benefits and you feel seen. When you’re not, you start to feel invisible or question your worth, some said. “There’s a bit of a godfather complex that goes on,” said a marketing and consulting executive. “If you play ball with Kassan, you get benefits; you get invites to the [iHeartMedia and MediaLink] party. I remember thinking, if I’m not at that party am I invisible? I was there for years, then I [wasn’t invited] and I was bummed. It was a see-and-be-seen thing. The fear of losing it is huge.” Still, some people said Kassan could put his deep Rolodex to better use. “I wish he would go off and do something good for the world with all his connections and money. God, we have so many issues in this world,” the creative agency CEO said. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Michael Kassan and the ad industry’s future—insiders on whether a connector role still matters

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