Ryan Partnership — a leading integrated marketing-services company has named industry veterans Mark Modesto and John Immesoete as CEO and Chief Creative Officer, respectively. Both executives will be based in Chicago. In addition, John Kuendig has been promoted from Group President to Chairman of Ryan Partnership, effective immediately, and will stay based in Wilton, CT. The executive moves come as Ryan expands its integrated capabilities to include a more robust CRM, digital and data offering.
"Mark and John Immesoete are best-in-class brand builders who will bring a deeper understanding of integrated marketing to Ryan Partnership," said Zain Raj, CEO of Hyper Marketing Inc., Ryan's parent company. "Additionally, John Kuendig has an innate understanding of the Ryan culture, and recognizes the importance of behavior-changing strategies in today's marketing environment. Together, Mark and the two Johns will form an unrivaled executive leadership team to drive Ryan and our clients' businesses forward."
Throughout their careers, Modesto and Immesoete have worked with blue-chip marketers. They were most recently at Marc USA, an integrated independent agency. Modesto served as President of the agency's Chicago office, and Immesoete as SVP/Executive Creative Director, Chicago.
For his part, Kuendig has experience on both the agency and client side, having held senior marketing positions at Avon Products and Kraft Foods before joining Ryan Partnership nearly 17 years ago. Under his leadership, Ryan Partnership has been one of the fastest growing direct and digital marketing agencies in the industry.
Mark Modesto, CEO of Ryan Partnership: Modesto began his advertising career in account management more than 30 years ago at Foote, Cone & Belding, where he built strong relationships with brands including Kraft, Coors, State Farm Insurance and S.C. Johnson, eventually serving as Worldwide Director on that business. In 2003 he was named President of FCB's Chicago office and in 2009 became North American President of DraftFCB after the company's 2006 merger with Draft. He helped grow DraftFCB Chicago by nearly 25 percent after the merger, adding new clients like Kmart, Qwest, Newell Rubbermaid and MillerCoors, making it the largest agency in Chicago at the time and one of the city's "Best Places to Work."
Commenting on his new role, Modesto said: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead a world class integrated marketing services organization like the Ryan Partnership. In addition, I am excited to be reunited with Zain and partnering with John Kuendig, both of whom share the passion for bringing first-class work to our clients and creating a work environment where employees view excellence as the only option. Finally, continuing to work with John Immesoete is a huge creative plus and a real pleasure."
John Immesoete, Chief Creative Officer of Ryan Partnership: Another Chicago-area vet, Immesoete has won every creative award in the marketing industry, including Clios, Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils and Grandys. He began his career at Leo Burnett in 1986, working on McDonald's, Hallmark and Nintendo, before moving to DDB in 1996 where he led creative for McDonald's and Anheuser-Busch. Immesoete rose through the ranks at the agency to become Group Creative Director of DDB Chicago. During his time at DDB, he and his teams created some of Anheuser-Busch's most famous advertising, including many Super Bowl commercials, the True "Leon" commercials, and Real Men of Genius, still the most awarded radio campaign of all time.
Immesoete left DDB in 2004 to write and shoot a pilot for NBC Television and to pursue independent writing and directing projects for brands including Heineken, Volkswagen, BMW, Miller, Anheuser Busch, Sprint and the IFC cable network.
Commenting on his new role, Immesoete said: "I'm incredibly excited to join the team at Ryan. Working with so many talented executives in so many fields across a number of offices is a tremendous opportunity. I look forward to building a strong creative department and strong relationships across the board."
John Kuendig, Chairman of Ryan Partnership: Before joining Ryan, Kuendig served as Kraft's vice president of marketing development, responsible for group promotions, direct marketing and the launch of the company's interactive marketing department. He began his career at Avon, in roles including Director of Marketing and Director of Promotions, and built the company's direct marketing department from the ground up. Throughout his 17-year career at Ryan, Kuendig has leveraged his consumer packaged goods experience to win and develop business in many industries, including: cable/broadband, telephony, HSD, and financial services.
Commenting on his new role, Kuendig said: "This is an exciting time for Ryan Partnership. Mark and John's joining brings our clients, and our employees, a whole new dimension in both above the line and below the line marketing. Partnering with Mark, John and the rest of the senior Ryan team, I know Ryan Partnership will continue to offer our clients the best integrated marketing in the business."
These appointments are part of Ryan Partnership's desire to bring a focus to its integrated offering by attracting top talent and elevating its creative product.
About Ryan Partnership Ryan Partnership is the second largest integrated marketing agency in the U.S. providing digital, data, direct, promotion, shopper and retail merchandising. The company's creative professionals combine sound strategic research and business acumen to create meaningful ideas that motivate purchase and loyalty to its clients' products, services and among target customers.
