VMLY&R has named Beth Ann Kaminkow to serve as its New York CEO, succeeding Jason Xenopoulos who becomes global chief creative officer across WPP’s work with Ford, effective immediately. Xenopoulos will continue in his role as VMLY&R’s North America co-chief creative officer. Both Kaminkow and Xenopoulos sit on VMLY&R’s global executive leadership team.
Kaminkow moves into a dual role, retaining responsibility for VMLY&R COMMERCE globally as CEO along with the VMLY&R NY CEO position. She will unite 1,000 creatives, strategists, data scientists and analysts into a single VMLY&R New York hub. Bringing everyone together at that hub is part of the agency’s larger integration strategy and includes multiple VMLY&R companies and brands–VMLY&R COMMERCE, VMLY&R Health, Taxi, and Berlin Cameron.
Appointed global CEO of Geometry in 2019, Kaminkow has been at the helm of the agency’s integration with VMLY&R since 2020 and the driving force behind the company’s accelerated commerce capabilities globally. Based in New York, she will build on VMLY&R’s strong foundation of creativity, technology, and culture to unlock new data-driven and talent strategies across its brand experience, customer experience, and commerce offerings.
Xenopoulos will retain creative oversight of VMLY&R North America’s long-term vision and remain a strategic partner to Kaminkow as they drive forward the agency’s global creative positioning across its portfolio of New York clients. Since the launch of VMLY&R in 2018, Xenopoulos has played a key role in driving integration across VMLY&R New York by bringing teams together to create a unified vision, culture and purpose. Under Xenopoulos’ leadership, the office has experienced double-digit revenue growth, welcomed 27 new client partners, and produced award-winning work for clients like Dell, New Balance, Campbell’s and Pfizer.
Kaminkow commented, “Creativity and culture are the heart and soul of New York City, home to ad land’s most tenured and entrepreneurial agencies and companies. I am thrilled to be at the epicenter of a renaissance in marketing, bringing brands closer to consumers with the very best of VMLY&R. Jason has built a very strong foundation and focus to accelerate this team’s relentless commitment to unlocking data-driven creativity for our client partners.”
Xenopoulos said, “I am extremely proud of what we have achieved at VMLY&R New York over the past three years, and I am thrilled to partner with Beth Ann in continuing to drive our creative vision and deliver culture-shifting work for our clients. I am especially excited about my new role on Ford and feel honored to have the opportunity to work on such an important and storied brand. Ford is an incredible company with a powerful purpose, and it is a privilege to be part of the team responsible for taking it forward into the future.”
Jon Cook, global CEO of VMLY&R, added, “Beth Ann is a steward of culture and growth with a track record of building businesses and people. She has been an amazing force for innovation and integration at VMLY&R since joining our family last year. We’re thrilled to have Jason take on this new significant role, leveraging his creative prowess in an amazing way for Ford. Already working as partners to push forward our global agency strategy, Beth Ann and Jason will continue to drive momentum and creative excellence with VMLY&R New York and WPP’s global team for Ford.”
