Dentsu promotes Michael Komasinski to CEO of Americas after Jacki Kelley quits

Dentsu Group has promoted Merkle boss Michael Komasinski to chief executive of Dentsu Americas following the resignation of Jacki Kelley to join IPG, as revealed by Campaign.

Komasinski is charged with overseeing the "integrated growth strategy and business execution" across the region.

He will take up his new post on 1 July, replacing Kelley, who has been CEO of Americas since January 2020 and also global chief client officer since January this year. She was president, chief client officer, Americas for 10 months before that.

Komasinski was promoted to global CEO of Merkle in October 2021, effective from 1 January 2022, replacing Craig Dempster, who had been a member of the Merkle executive leadership team for nearly 14 years. Dempster retired from the business at the end of 2021.

In 2023 Komasinski joined Dentsu’s global executive management team following the integration of Dentsu international and Dentsu Japan Network, a restructure announced in November 2022.

Komasinski, who joined the network as a result of Havas's 2016 acquisition of a majority stake in Merkle, had been president of Merkle/CXM, Americas and leader of the Dentsu Customer Experience Management (CXM) Service Line in the Americas, overseeing all aspects of Merkle's Americas regional operation.

He reported to Wendy Clark, the erstwhile global CEO of Dentsu International who left in September 2022 following a restructure. She has since resurfaced as a partner at financial services advisory and investing platform Consello.

Komasinski had led Merkle across two of Dentsu's three regions, having joined the agency in 2015 as chief operating officer of Agency Services and going on to become president of Merkle's EMEA operations. He moved to London in late 2016 to start his transition into a region-wide leadership role, experience that has earned him his latest promotion.

Hiroshi Igarashi, president and CEO of Dentsu Group, said: "Michael is a charismatic and thoughtful leader who can see both the detail required in assessing client needs, while also easily being able to take a step back and develop the strategy needed to drive a large business, and team, forward to success.

"While heading up Merkle, Michael oversaw the rapid growth of the organisation and his experience in bringing together the skills, technology and data to grow will prove critical as Dentsu takes its next steps towards becoming a people-centred transformation business. We congratulate him on this appointment and look forward to sharing in future successes."

Komasinski added: "Dentsu is at a pivotal and monumental stage in its history as we come together under a single global strategy with so much combined potential.

"The Americas region is Dentsu's second largest after Japan but is also ripe for growth at a time when brands need partners to deliver clear competitive and creative differentiation... I am so proud to take over leadership of the Americas team and can't wait to deepen relationships with clients and colleagues alike."

Dentsu thanked Kelley for her leadership and the important role she played over the past four years, wishing her a successful future.