November 10, 2021

Advertising Veterans Join Meet The People, Further Cementing the New Working Model’s Impact Across the Industry

The industry’s first people-centric advertising group welcomes high-ranking executives from leading holding companies to usher in a new way of doing business.

Newly launched advertising group, Meet The People, is breathing fresh life into the industry with its entrepreneurial-minded approach to business. It’s also attracting the attention of industry executives seeking new models for agency collaboration. Meet The People welcomes Craig Ellis and Andrew Roth to their executive team as President of North America and Global Head of Business Strategy, respectively. Together, Ellis and Roth complete a high-profile leadership team for the next-generation enterprise.

Meet The People is the first people-centric advertising group, founded by an exceptional team of leaders and entrepreneurs – Tim Ringel, Tom Armbruster and Natalie Alberta Dusey. The addition of Ellis and Roth demonstrates that the people-first approach is taking root beyond just the independent agency community, but at the legacy holding companies as well. “We’re excited to have such recognized leaders join us as we look to move away from the status quo,” said Tim Ringel, CEO of Meet The People. “The addition of Craig and Andrew makes a statement to the rest of the industry that there is top-down interest to effect change and develop a new operating model designed to prioritize the people who make up the lifeblood of our industry.”

With 24 years of experience building, creating, and integrating agencies across digital start-ups and on the publisher side, Craig Ellis joins Meet The People from Resolution Agency, the specialist performance agency within Omnicom Media Group. Resolutions’ recent accelerated growth is attributed to Ellis’ role as President, helping to rebrand, reposition, and reengineer the agency and culture, and attracting an impressive client roster during his tenure. As Global Chief Operating Officer of Reprise, IPG Mediabrands’ digital front door, Ellis assembled more than 3500+ employees in 42 countries and 72 offices, making Reprise one of the network’s fastest-growing agencies. His guidance as CEO of Reprise Australia led to the agency becoming one of the top search agencies in APAC. His expertise in developing and shaping business cultures will enhance Meet The People’s people-focused vision.

When asked why he joined Meet The People, Ellis said, “At Meet the People, we want to re-engineer how an agency group and its people within work and make it better. Our aim is to focus on the experience of our employees and clients, eliminating legacy bureaucracy and red tape, and taking a more forward-thinking view of what we can achieve and create together. I’m excited to join Meet The People, because we’re confident we can help evolve the industry standards of how we do business.”

Whether championing innovative solutions internally at IPG or helping to lead disruptive approaches from the firm he co-founded, Andrew Roth has embraced unconventional perspectives and methodologies in the advertising industry throughout his career. Before joining Meet The People, Roth served as EVP and Head of Innovation Strategy and Corporate Development at IPG DXTRA, an ecosystem of 27 specialized agencies under the IPG banner. In this role, Roth helped develop and execute integrated marketing solutions across the network, designed DXTRA’s data strategy, and oversaw the network’s global portfolio operations, where he worked with each agency’s leadership to integrate emerging technology and data-driven solutions as well as develop each agency’s respective investment and acquisition strategies. Prior to his role at DXTRA, Roth served as EVP and Head of Corporate Development and Business Integration for Weber Shandwick, part of the IPG DXTRA ecosystem and one of the largest marketing communications agencies in the world. Roth also co-founded and served as Chief Strategy Officer for Bomoda, a data science and brand consultancy, which was acquired by Weber Shandwick. Roth began his career in private equity, first as an M&A attorney primarily focused on private equity clients and their portfolio companies, and then transitioning to business development and strategy at Blackstone upon receiving his MBA from Columbia Business School.

“There are many models that people are trying to position in hyperbolic ways as ‘the best,’ or ‘most revolutionary,’ said Roth. “Essentially, the industry has become saturated with several voices saying the same thing. Our approach is simpler – we’re creating a family of agencies led by thoughtful and creative founders with the sole purpose of ensuring that the only voice that matters is the client’s.”

Meet The People currently oversees three category-leading agencies with more than 350 people: VSA Partners, a creative, strategy, design and branding agency; Public Label, an integrated agency with above-the-line, experiential and shopper expertise; and Match Retail, a top sales, merchandising and branded retail agency. Under the new model, each agency will work together as a community while retaining its own identity and culture.