3Q Digital on Wednesday plans to announce major leadership changes, setting the foundation for the company’s next wave of rapid growth.

These moves, effective today, mark a significant pivot to build on 3Q Digital CEO David Rodnitzky’s vision for the agency he founded in a coffee shop in January 2008.

Rodnitzky will continue to have an active role within the agency, supporting clients and serving as an industry thought leader through his Fearless Marketing video series. He also plans to spend more time on strategy and complete a book that he hopes will publish within the next year.

Rob Murray, 3Q Digital president, will move into the role of CEO, overseeing the company’s 330 employees in eight U.S. offices and two overseas offices.

“Rob is more than well equipped to keep the ship running smoothly,” Rodnitzky said.

Murray joined 3Q Digital as president in September 2019, overseeing operations globally. Since joining the agency, he has played a key role in establishing 3Q as a leader, with 2020 revenue projected to reach an all-time high for the agency.

“We have been working on a new go-to market operating model that will launch within the next 60 days,” Murray said. “That’s the underpinning of where we plan to take 3Q Digital.”

Performance marketing is important, but optimizing paid media channels in a vacuum will lead to diminishing returns, he said.

Automation requires helping brands understand customer lifetime values, rather than a click, and connect with an audience and consumer, not just a random ID.

The goal is to give brands insight into how consumers make the decision to become a customer, as well as how that calculates into lifetime value and the cost to acquire strategies.

“That’s the Holy Grail, rather than last-click attribution and CPAs, which we think are the metrics of yesterday,” Murray said.

One of the first orders of business for Murray was to hire a chief strategy officer who will take the reins on products, which Rodnitzky previously led.

Sam Huston, former chief strategy officer at iProspect, joins 3Q Digital today as chief strategy officer, focusing on mergers and acquisitions as well as product vision, go-to market strategy, and product roadmap.

Huston, which officially starts next week at 3Q, brings more than a decade of experience designing and executing growth strategies for media and marketing agencies.

Murray called Huston a “unicorn” and a “brilliant digital strategist” when it comes to product development and media strategy and planning.

Diversity also plays a key role for Murray and the agency. 3Q Digital recently hired a professional diversity and inclusion consultant, which he believes will become more common among agencies. He is opening up partnership opportunities and recruiting efforts.

Murray also said the company will ensure equal pay and commit more fully to recruiting from Black communities and universities.

“We’re at the start of journey to ensure diversity and inclusivity as core strategies — major values we stand behind,” he said. “We’re creating a safe psychological space for people to have open dialog about race issues. … We’re facilitating education and conversation around racial biases.”