Maex and Martin both bring deep performance and analytics expertise as Mediabrands positions all units to better help clients drive marketing transformation through data

IPG Mediabrands named performance marketing expert Dimitri Maex as Global CEO of Initiative, its full-service global brand, and appointed Jarrod Martin, an experienced data and analytics leader, as Global CEO of Reprise Digital, the Mediabrands digital marketing and e-commerce specialist agency.

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Jarrod Martin, Global CEO of Reprise Digital; Dimitri Maex, Global CEO of Initiative. (Photo: Business Wire)

Martin is assuming the top spot at Reprise from Maex, who had been Reprise’s Global CEO since 2019, while Martin was previously Global Chief Operating Officer at Initiative. The two executives share a background as longtime Mediabrands leaders with a depth of expertise in data- and performance-marketing capabilities at Mediabrands:

“In Dimitri, we have a seasoned global leader who has turned Reprise into a performance marketing powerhouse, and he will bring that experience to Initiative to enhance its already powerful product in the marketplace benefiting clients and teams alike,” said Daryl Lee, Global CEO of Mediabrands. “Jarrod will be equally transformative as he applies his AI and analytics expertise to accelerate the depth and power of our precision digital and e-commerce solutions.”

Lee continued: “Plus, what is more satisfying than promoting next generation leaders from within. Both Dimitri and Jarrod exemplify Mediabrands’ deep bench of talent who were born and raised in a data-rich world.”

Under Maex’s leadership at Reprise, the specialist agency has grown substantially by simplifying capabilities and integrating around clients. Maex merged the search and social departments into integrated performance marketing teams dedicated to clients and aligned to the core global brands of Initiative and UM. He launched Reprise Commerce and grew that practice into a leading global capability with a full suite of solutions for global clients. He scaled the performance marketing content capabilities of Reprise by building out key hubs around the world.

“Performance marketing is no longer a subset of a marketing strategy, it needs to be the core of any integrated marketing strategy,” said Maex. “I am excited to be asked to lead Initiative, an industry leader in media craft and cultural creativity, through its next chapter as we look to enhance the performance of all media. And I look forward to working closely with Jarrod as we build integrated teams for our clients.”

Over the last five years at Initiative, Martin turned his passion for data and insights into a competitive advantage for the award-winning global agency. He has been a champion of building new service models for clients across core data functions of digital reporting, analytics, and optimization. Martin’s career at Mediabrands began in 2013 where he started a specialist analytics unit in Australia, later moving to New York, becoming Global President of Mediabrands Insights before joining Initiative.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Reprise,” said Martin. “During my time at Initiative, I frequently collaborated with my colleagues there as we built out Initiative’s suite of analytic services, so it is incredibly gratifying to now work with them from the inside to accelerate the shift to more AI-driven solutions for our clients.”

It’s not the first time Maex and Martin crossed paths as they both worked at OgilvyOne in London 20 years ago, a time they call the “go-go years”.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Maex would become Global CEO at Initiative, succeeding Amy Armstrong, who is leaving Initiative to join one of the agency’s long-standing clients, Amazon. Armstrong, whose 25-year career at IPG included five years in top leadership roles at Initiative, will become Director of Global Client Development at Amazon Ads.

About Mediabrands

IPG Mediabrands is the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). Mediabrands manages approximately $40 billion in marketing investment globally on behalf of its clients and provides strategic services and solutions across its award-winning, full-service agency networks UM and Initiative and through its innovative marketing specialist companies Reprise, Magna, Orion, Rapport, Healix, Mediabrands Content Studio and the IPG Media Lab. Mediabrands clients include many of the world’s most recognizable and iconic brands from a broad portfolio of industry sectors. The company employs more than 13,000 marketing experts in more than 130 countries representing the full diversity of humanity. For more information, please visit our website: and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.

About Initiative

We’re a global media agency designed to grow brands through culture. Over the last three years, we’ve been named as the fastest growing media agency in the world by independent media ratings agency, RECMA. Key to our success is the fact most media agencies are built for brand awareness, with a bias for paid media. We’re a little different. We’re built for brand relevance, with a bias for Cultural Velocity. We believe the brands that succeed move and adjust with consumers at speed, showcasing their relevance and meaningfully contribute to their lives. We call this Cultural Velocity™- a measure for the speed at which a brand moves through culture to drive relevance. The faster a brand can move with culture, the more relevant they become and the greater the growth.

Operating in over 90 countries, Initiative employs 4,000 of the smartest and most diverse talent in the industry.

About Reprise Digital

Reprise is one of the world’s largest performance marketing networks, with over 3,000 experts across 68 offices in 45 markets. We offer a complete suite customer-centric performance marketing services including, but not limited to, Strategy, SEO, Paid Search, Social, eCommerce and Creative. Part of the Mediabrands division of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), Reprise is headquartered in New York. To learn more about how we can empower your business, please visit www.reprisedigital.com now.

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