Dentsu Aegis Network Names Jacki Kelley as President and Chief Client Officer, U.S.

Jacki Kelley has been named chief client officer for Dentsu Aegis Network. Kelley brings her global expertise and diverse network to help define unique partnerships, with platforms and media owners to deliver solutions for clients, and advise on Dentsu’s long term acquisition strategy. Working at the DAN Executive level in this key role, Kelley will have responsibility for coordinating and operationalizing the integrated brand solutions delivery for all key clients across the group’s many agency brands, including mcgarrybowen, Carat, iProspect, 360i, Isobar and Merkle.  

Kelley joins Dentsu Aegis Network from Bloomberg LP, where she was deputy chief operating officer and has been a leader in the advertising and media industries for over 25 years. Kelley joined Bloomberg Media in 2014 as chief operating officer and was appointed to the broader role of deputy chief operating officer for the Bloomberg LP in December 2017. While at Bloomberg LP, Kelley worked across critical functions including Technology Operations, Workplace Operations, People Operations and Philanthropy & Engagement.

Prior to Bloomberg, Kelley was the CEO, North America, and president of Global Clients for IPG Mediabrands as well as Global CEO, Universal McCann. She was a vice president, Worldwide Strategy & Solutions, at Yahoo! and worked with USA Today for 18 years, leaving the company as a senior vice president. Kelley’s background and expertise perfectly align with Dentsu Aegis Network’s strategic priorities, as it continues to operationalize a best-in-class simplified and integrated client experience to help our clients win, keep and grow their best customers.

CEO Nick Brien said: “Jacki Kelley is a proven senior marketing executive with recognized leadership expertise and deep operational skills. Her diversified range of career experiences across the media, marketing and agency sectors is equally unusual and extremely valuable, as we seek to deliver more integrated marketing solutions for our clients. Jacki’s role in our industry, both as a visionary and game-changer, makes her ideal for the president, chief client officer role at Dentsu Aegis Network.”

Kelley said: “It is an exciting time to return to an agency network as I see the disruption as a significant opportunity to differentiate with integrated solutions for clients. Dentsu was the most compelling opportunity based on exceptional capability across all disciplines, a culture of collaboration, a structure to deliver integrated solutions at scale and an appetite to invest for the future.”

Kelley serves on the board of Comic Relief USA and has been honored with the United Way of New York City’s Power of Women to Make a Difference Award. She was named a Matrix Award Honoree by New York Women in Communications; Advertising Woman of the Year by the Advertising Women of New York; a New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award Honoree; and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. She has been honored as one of Crain’s New York Business’s 50 Most Powerful Women in New York and Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, as well as number one on Business Insider’s 30 Most Powerful Women in Advertising list.

Kelley’s hire follows a series of recent appointments to the newly-formed U.S. executive team, as Brien follows through on his commitment to innovate the way brands are built to help clients win, keep and grow their best customers. The Dentsu Aegis U.S. executive team will be instrumental in integrating and optimizing its offerings to better serve their clients end-to-end marketing needs; pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase.

In addition to the creation of the Dentsu Aegis U.S. Executive team, Brien has also restructured the broad and diverse range of agencies into four service lines to ensure optimum discipline expertise and maximum resource leverage. These new service lines are Creative & Content, headed up by Pat Lafferty as president mcgarrybowen, U.S.; Media (Brand & Performance) headed up by Doug Ray as chairman of DAN Media US; CX & Commerce headed up by Deb Boyda as CEO of Isobar, U.S.; CRM & Loyalty, headed up by Craig Dempster as president, Merkle, Americas.

These leaders sit on the U.S. Exec board alongside, Nick Brien, as CEO, Americas; David Williams as chairman, Americas; Hap Brakeley as chief growth officer, Americas; Jennifer Ferguson as chief communications officer, Americas; Dirk Herbert as chief strategy officer, U.S.; Libby Barden as chief people officer, Americas; Michele Salle as chief people officer, U.S.; Shiva Vannavada as chief technology officer, Americas; Neil Gissler as chief operating officer, Americas.