Aegis N.A. Chief Sarah Fay Steps Down
Fay was among the first -- and still the few -- digital execs to head up traditional agency holdings.
Storied digital agency vet Sarah Fay is leaving Aegis North America after just a year as CEO. Fay was among the first — and still the few — interactive pioneers to assume control of a large network with traditional capabilities. She did so in April 2008, when David Verklin unexpectedly left to join cable TV ad venture Canoe.
The 47-year-old Fay is replaced by Nigel Morris, who’s been CEO of digital network Isobar since 2003. Morris, in turn, is succeeded at Isobar by Mark Cranmer.
During her 11 years at Aegis, Fay rose steadily through the ranks. She was previously CEO of Carat and Isobar USA. Before that she was head of Carat Digital, prior to the integration of Carat USA and Carat Fusion. In 2001 she led the creation of Carat Interactive. Between 1996 and 2000 she held various positions with Carat, then known as Carat Freedman.
“I’m too old to have done only digital,” Fay said last year during an event hosted by ClickZ. “I’ve always believed in all mediums and how they play together. The whole is greater than the sum of [its] parts. I have never said digital is here…to overtake TV and print.”
Her departure was presented by the company as a mutual decision, and she said in a statement she planned to focus on her family in Boston.
Morris takes the reins at Aegis North America effective immediately. He’ll oversee all the company’s businesses in the U.S. and Canada, including Carat, Vizeum, Velocity Sports and Entertainment, Vivid Marketing, and the Isobar digital network. Isobar houses Freestyle Interactive, Ammo Marketing, iProspect, Range, and Molecular.
Cranmer, the new Isobar CEO, was previously CEO of Starcom Mediavest EMEA. Before that, he held senior roles at BBH, Motive, Research International and other firms.
