UK marcoms challenger MSQ has hired James Townsend, former CEO of Stagwell EMEA and head of its Brand Performance network, as its new CEO. Co-founder and current CEO Peter Reid moves up to executive chairman (below left with Townsend.)
MSQ now has 2000 people now working across 25 global offices in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Over the past three years it has completed seven acquisitions in America, Germany and the UK, won and deepened relationships with clients such as Diageo, Chase, The AA, JLL and Dropbox and launched MSQ Intelligence, a central global team dedicated to developing products, services, platforms and data capabilities to power MSQ agencies with tools and intelligence.
Reid and Townsend will work in tandem to ensure a smooth transition supported by MSQ’s non-executive chairman Charles Courtier, COO Dan Yardley and the executive directors.
Reid says: “This is a genuinely exciting moment for MSQ and for me personally. James brings the energy, experience and vision that we need to accelerate the next chapter of growth and I am delighted that we have attracted him to MSQ.
“It allows me to continue contributing to the strategic direction of a group that I am immensely proud of, while creating space for new leadership to thrive. I very much look forward to working with James as together we embark on the next step in our evolution.”
Townsend says: “MSQ is an exceptional business and has grown to become one of the most scaled challengers – ambitious, entrepreneurial and built on a culture of doing what is right for clients and its people. I have admired what Peter and the team have built and I am thrilled to now be part of it.
“The opportunity ahead is significant. I see a growing market. MSQ has a connected structure, world class talent and an AI platform in Assist that is creating material advantage for modern marketers. All this delivers an opportunity for us to cement ourselves as one of the defining global marketing and technology groups of this decade.
