Agency News
Marcus Thomas makes two new hires
June 8th 2024
June 5, 2024: Cleveland, OH – Marcus Thomas has made two new hires as the award-winning agency continues to carve out an exciting new chapter following the promotion of Scott Chapin to CEO and Chief Creative Officer Jamie Venorsky to President in April 2024.
Melissa Hersey joins Marcus Thomas as Vice President, Project Management and will lead the agency’s project management team globally, across clients including Vitamix, Dexcom, and Sherwin-Williams. This marks a return for Hersey, who previously established Marcus Thomas’ U.S.-based project management practice before leaving in 2022 for a Vice President role at Digitas North America where she led creative and media projects for Supergoop!, LVMH, McDonald's, Planet Fitness, and Walmart. Hersey was instrumental in transitioning the LVMH media business for Digitas in 2023, bringing in more than 25 brands including Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessey, and Loewe onto the agency’s roster.
Hersey cites the strength of Marcus Thomas’ culture and integrity as being partially responsible for her return. “My ambitions are to hold that [culture and integrity] close while evolving and expanding the agency’s profile and reach.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Melissa back to our agency. She established our U.S. project management practice and I can’t wait to see how she leverages her new skills to lead our global PM team,” said President Scott Chapin.
The agency also welcomes Lauren Talarczyk as Management Supervisor, a role in which she will be leading the Festival Foods and KraftMaid accounts. Coming from Dentsu Creative where she led the agency’s Burger King account, Talarczyk hopes to help Marcus Thomas’ clients grow their businesses by pushing boundaries and encouraging her teams to create new and exciting work beyond the status quo. She is excited to work again with Clark, who was a colleague of Talarczyk’s at Colle McVoy.
“It’s very important for me to be at a company that wants to make a positive impact on the world. That, and the opportunity to lead these accounts while surrounded by the amazing culture and warmth of the people at Marcus Thomas made this move a no-brainer,” said Talarczyk.
Added Kara Gildone, VP, Management Supervisor: "We’re so excited to have Lauren join us. She's known within the industry as a ‘client whisperer’ and has the innate ability to quickly become their valued business and consultative partner."
About Marcus Thomas
Marcus Thomas LLC, with 280 professionals in its offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile, is among America’s leading national independent agencies. With a collection of category experts under one roof, Marcus Thomas is a recognized leader in creative, media, public relations, social media, digital, CRM and marketing automation and analytics. The humble Midwest agency founded in 1937 is regularly honored for its award-winning campaigns and as a best place to work. Whether working on hyper-local media strategies or creating spots that run on massive stages like the Super Bowl, its suite of hyper-integrated services continues to be its massive differentiator.
