IPG Mediabrands Names Dimitri Maex Global CEO of Initiative

Previously Global CEO of Reprise Digital, Maex will build on Initiative’s momentum as an industry trailblazer and client champion

IPG Mediabrands today announced that performance marketing expert and seasoned agency leader Dimitri Maex would become Global CEO of Initiative, its award-winning, full-service global brand. Maex previously served as Global CEO of Reprise Digital, the Mediabrands specialist agency dedicated to delivering integrated solutions in digital marketing and e-commerce.

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Dimitri Maex, Global CEO, Initiative (Photo: Business Wire)

As Reprise’s Global CEO since 2019, Maex guided the agency through its most rapid years of innovation and growth. Maex is replacing 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.

“Amy is an industry trailblazer, and a passionate client champion, so it is no surprise that one of our most valued client partners has tapped her for their next exciting chapter of growth,” said Daryl Lee, Global CEO of IPG Mediabrands. “In Dimitri, we are naming another agile and innovative leader, who brings a wealth of performance marketing experience that will help Initiative enhance its velocity in the marketplace. He is humble, hungry and ready to hit the ground running, with clients and teams alike.”

Under Maex’s leadership, Reprise has grown substantially by simplifying capabilities and integrating around clients. He 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 our top global clients. He scaled the performance marketing content capabilities of Reprise by building out key hubs around the world.

Prior to his leadership role at Reprise, Maex was the U.S. President of OgilvyOne for several years as well as the President of the global data science company, Sentiance. Earlier in his career, he wrote the book on data analytics, “Sexy Little Numbers,” which was published by Crown Business and has been translated into six languages.

“Initiative is a beacon of media craft and cultural creativity in our industry, and I am excited to become its next global leader,” said Maex. “While at Reprise, I seized every opportunity to collaborate with Initiative and I look forward to working closely with Initiative clients and teams to build the future together.”

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: www.ipgmediabrands.com 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.

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