Merkle Hires to Boost CX Offering in EMEA

Performance marketing agency Merkle has added two senior Customer Experience (CX) leaders to its EMEA team, as part of expansion plans in the region. Guy Howland joins in the new role of Creative Director, while Sarah Painter moves from the firm's SEO team in the US.

Both will be based in London. Howland worked previously as Head of Creative at automotive software and marketing solutions provider Gforces, where he spent nearly six years. At Merkle he is tasked with growing the creative department, working across existing clients and new business, and will report to regional VP of customer experience Azlan Raj.

Painter played a lead role in delivering award-winning campaigns and developing SEO solutions in the US team, having joined the company in 2012. Earlier she spent four years as an Account Director at the Corporate Executive Board and then two as a Client Relations manager at lawyers Covington and Burling.

The EMEA CX division was launched just over a year ago and following recent acquisitions, including mobile and innovation agency aFrogleap, social and content agency YourSocial and Oxyma, now has more than 120 experience and creative experts in EMEA. In December, Merkle hires Julia Crawley-Boevey as Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for EMEA, and said 2018 would see its M&A activity in the region 'increasing significantly'.

Raj comments: 'Sarah brings next-level SEO services to our EMEA clients, whilst Guy's stunning, data-informed creative work ensures we will continue to offer high-performing solutions to clients through a powerful blend of art and science'. Michael Komasinski, president of Merkle EMEA, says: 'Customer Experience is a major battleground for our clients, and our growing CX capability, led by Azlan, is well placed to help them win. Guy and Sarah are fantastic additions to this team'.

Part of Dentsu Aegis, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, MD, with 24 additional offices in the US and 21 offices in Europe and APAC, and is online at www.merkleinc.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.