by Larissa Faw, March 8, 2017

Ai Media Group has appointed John Bernbach chairman of the board. The longtime advertising executive — and son of DDB legend Bill Bernbach will be responsible for developing and executing growth strategies and creating new service offerings for the media and technology business.

The firm has developed technology that it believes helps brands better understand consumer paths to purchasing products and services.

The appointment of Bernbach — who spent 27 years at DDB himself — comes three months after investment company Blackstone bought a minority stake in Ai Media Group. Bernbach, who runs his own consulting company, currently serves as an advisor to Blackstone.

“After spending years building and perfecting our technology and services we will now focus on expanding our full channel attribution methodology, which has placed our company in the top tier of digital agencies,” stated Sergio Alvarez, COO, Ai Media Group. “John’s extensive background and leadership skills—coupled with the recent Blackstone investment—will help us grow our base while delivering more valuable and strategic results to our clients.”

Bernbach brings a lot of Ad/marketing expertise to this position. In addition to his DDB tenure, he served as vice chairman of Engine, the independent marketing services company, which he joined in January 2010. He was also a co-founder of NTM (Not Traditional Media) Inc., a marketing and media advisory firm created in 2003.

In 1986, he was instrumental in leading Doyle Dane Bernbach into a merger with Needham Harper Worldwide and BBDO and helping to create the Omnicom Group. He ran all of the domestic and international operations for the newly-created DDB Needham, serving as president/COO for eight years. He also was on the board as one of Omnicom’s five founding directors.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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