Today’s agencies are more creative, diverse, and specialized than ever before. So are their leaders. Ad Age Collective connects exceptional agency executives, offering them opportunities to share their knowledge and find community. Below, meet six of these leaders and find out how they are creating new ways for brands to reach their audiences and fulfill their potential.
Are you an agency leader with an innovative approach and a record of success? Find out here if you qualify to join Ad Age Collective.
Michael Mothner, Founder and CEO, Wpromote
Michael Mothner is the quintessential entrepreneur, having founded his company, Wpromote, from his dorm room at Dartmouth in 2001. Then, Wpromote was a mini-agency focused on PPC advertising. Now, after 18 years, the company has developed into the largest independent digital marketing agency in the US, employing 400+ people in seven offices, serving 100,000 clients in over 50 countries, including high-profile brands like Marriott, Bayer, Verizon, Papyrus, and Cinemark, among many others.
Wpromote curates a hip, unique vibe with catchphrases like “turn challengers into champions” and “make Mondays suck less.” The former produced Wpromote’s identity as “the challenger agency;” the company promises to help clients “challenge your industry and create rapid, sustainable business growth through our innovative digital marketing solutions.”
Mothner has shepherded Wpromote through every moment of its journey and is one of the most respected leaders in digital marketing. He is a member of the Google SEM Council and serves on the board of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. He has received numerous awards and accolades, including the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Entretech Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit and Inc.’s 30 CEO’s Under 30.
Mothner and Wpromote have been redefining marketing agency expectations for almost two decades. He writes and speaks about digital marketing and entrepreneurship, and has been featured by MSNBC, Fox News, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and BusinessWeek.
Monika Rose, Founder, Chief Creative, Kindred Creative Group
Monika Rose is a right-brained creative who has developed the left-brain business acumen that allowed her to build a thriving agency. She is passionate about creativity, collaboration, and authenticity in marketing. As the founder and chief creative of Kindred Creative Group, an integrated brand marketing agency, she strives to integrate these principles into her work and the company ethos.
With a background as both a yogi and an art director, Rose has a unique perspective and unmatched creative powers, which she has funnelled into Kindred Creative Group. Kindred is committed to finding creative ways to tell authentic multi-channel stories for and about clients, who include The North Face, Bonterra Wines, Clif Bar, Title Nine, and Pottery Barn. Rose’s hybridized approach to branding brings strategy and creative thinking together to tell genuine, relatable stories that connect people to brands.
In addition to her work at Kindred, Rose is a public speaker interested in Gen Z, female empowerment, women in business, and socially responsible businesses.
Robyn Streisand, Founder and CEO,The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide
Robyn Streisand is founder and CEO of not just a boutique marketing agency, The Mixx, but also of Titanium Worldwide, a “collective of independent and certified-diverse agencies.” She first founded The Mixx from her apartment over 22 years ago. Now Titanium, of which The Mixx is a founding member, serves over 200 brands and brings in over $200 million.
Streisand says she has “made it her mission to educate brands, agencies, and fellow entrepreneurs on the benefits of working with diverse-owned companies.” With Titanium’s assortment of agencies, she hopes to demonstrate that diverse input results in diverse solutions that solve complex business challenges for clients.
For her thought leadership in contemporary marketing, Streisand was honored as one of Ad Age's Women 2 Watch and on OUT magazine’s OUT100 , an annual list featuring the world's most compelling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals (an honor she shares with celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Ford).
Streisand’s businesses have also been recognized for excellence. The Mixx was included on the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies list in 2017, and it served as the official agency partner for Heritage of Pride’s 2019’s WorldPride celebration. Titanium was named Most Collaborative Business of the Year (2017) at WBENC , the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the U.S.
In addition to spearheading The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide, Streisand serves as a board member for The Phluid Project, “the world's first gender-free store and community space.”
Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO, Hawke Media
Erik Huberman is a serial entrepreneur with the Midas touch. He has founded and sold several companies, and presently focuses his energy on Hawke Media, which he founded in 2014 and now, just five years later, has been valued at $75 million.
Hawke Media offers an à la carte services menu and month-to-month fee structure, making doing business easy for clients of all sizes. The company has already worked with over 1500 brands, including high-profile clients like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless, and Alibaba. Hawke has been quick to rack up honors; it was featured in the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies, Fortune’s “50 Best Workplaces in Southern California,” and Forbes’ “Content Marketing Companies to Check Out in 2018.”
Huberman has an equally impressive list of personal accolades under his belt, having been named to several prestigious lists including Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc.’s Top 25 Marketing Influencers. He was also Best in Biz North America’s “Marketing Executive of the Year” for 2016.
Huberman serves as a sought-after keynote speaker on entrepreneurship, personal values, win/win business practices, publicity, and e-commerce.
Arjun Sen, CEO, ZenMango
Arjun Sen started out with a degree in aeronautical engineering, but now he helps businesses fly high as CEO of ZenMango, a marketing and branding agency serving corporate giants like DISH Network, Walgreens, Coca Cola, Domino’s, McDonald’s, and more.
Before ZenMango, Sen served as VP of marketing and operations for Papa John’s, and in several other senior marketing positions in the restaurant industry for Quizno’s, Boston Market, Pizza Hut, and Jillian's Entertainment.
Sen’s motto is “win big,” and he has spent his career so far showing others how to do it. In addition to his day-to-day work with ZenMango, he is the author of Customer Karma, which emphasizes the importance of putting customers first and building long-term customer relationships. He was a professor of marketing for several years at the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business.
Sen presents actionable keynote speeches on topics related to customer relationships, like “Own Customers for Life” and “Earn 5-Star Word-of-Mouth From Your Customers.”
Eric Siu, Co-founder and CEO, Single Grain and ClickFlow
Eric Siu has built a career focused on SEO and digital marketing. He has served as an SEO link-building manager, SEO strategist, and director of marketing for various organizations. Now, as CEO of both Single Grain, a full-service digital marketing agency, and ClickFlow, an “SEO experimentation tool,” Siu puts his expertise to use for mega-clients like Amazon, Uber, and Nordstrom, as well as venture-backed startups.
Single Grain makes a point of considering every single client as an individual. It creates unique plans of action for each client, which may incorporate PPC ads, social media, display advertising, video, and more.
In addition to his work as CEO for Single Grain and ClickFlow, Siu is active in podcasting. He hosts the popular Growth Everywhere podcast and co-hosts Marketing School with Neil Patel, which boasts over 12 million downloads.
Siu has spoken at conferences around the world, including Infoshare 2018, NextCon, First Mark Capital, Growth Hackers Conference, and Growth Marketing Conference. In partnership with Neil Patel, he also runs a “Growth Accelerator Mastermind” course, which gathers remarkable people aiming to accomplish remarkable goals to make a difference in the world.
Ad Age Collective is looking for agency leaders like these who are breaking ground and leading their teams and clients to success. Find out if you qualify and apply here.