Former 4A's CEO Nancy Hill named CEO at Marcus Thomas

I have some news to share with you.

As of June 1, 2022, I will be stepping down as CEO of Marcus Thomas, transitioning to the role of Vice Chairman of our board. While this is a big decision for me personally, I know that the timing is right, and I know that the agency is poised for its next great chapter. I’m excited for our future and where our next leader will take us.

I will be handing the baton to Nancy Hill, former CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and, most recently, owner of her own agency consulting business, Media Sherpas. Nancy is an industry stalwart. She’s held leadership positions at midsize independent and large global agencies. She was named one of Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising History and was honored as a Woman to Watch by Ad Age.

I first got to know Nancy over a decade ago as leader of the 4A’s. One of the many things that struck me was her passion for creating a more diverse and equitable industry – a value that aligns strongly with ours. When she stepped down as 4A’s CEO and opened her own agency consulting business, Marcus Thomas was one of her first clients. In that role, she’s been an advocate of our culture. We have a shared priority in fostering an environment that puts people first. In 2021, she joined our board and has fully embraced our business strategy and vision: to become a top independent agency to work at and with. She is ready to carry our vision forward.

Thirty-three years ago, I started working at an ad agency called Ira Thomas Associates – ITA – in Youngstown, Ohio. ITA was a small shop of about 17 people doing a lot of traditional advertising in the industrial sector. I knew we could grow and diversify, but I would never have guessed we would be over 260 people across the United States and Latin America – and one of the strongest independent integrated communications firms in the country working with well-known consumer and commercial brands.

We haven’t just added new services; we’ve created a deep bench of diverse experts driving client work that is recognized with top industry awards in creative, media, public relations, digital strategy and development, social media and marketing automation, to name a few. We’ve always innovated with our clients’ needs in mind. I hope that our growth – 72% over the past five years – and our average client tenure of 13 years is proof that it’s working for you.

We’ve grown to be a strong agency because of people like you – people, clients and partners who demand better than the ordinary, who expect a partner who will work as hard as they do and will figure out how to outmaneuver the competition and be on the leading edge of communications platforms. Marcus Thomas is fortunate to have clients who trust us to help overcome business challenges with creative thinking and innovative approaches.

As I step back from the CEO position, I couldn’t be more proud of the foundation that my partners and I have built. When I think about what’s next for the agency, I can’t think of a stronger leader than Nancy.

Nancy and I, as well as our leadership team – Mark Bachmann, Jim Bower, Scott Chapin, Jennifer Hirt-Marchand, Jason Hutchison, Phil Johnston, Heidi Modarelli-Frank, Raf Rivilla, Pato Sapir, Jim Sollisch, Jamie Venorsky, Ian Verschuren and Amber Zent – look forward to what’s next. We look forward to growing your business with you.

Regards,

Jim Nash