Maxus hires Zenith's Richard Stokes to lead new biz and marketing

By Maisie McCabe, mediaweek.co.uk, Thursday, 14 February 2013 11:20AM

Maxus has appointed Richard Stokes, ZenithOptimedia's head of new business and marketing for EMEA, to the position of global new business and marketing director, replacing Helena Snowdon.

Richard Stokes: joins Maxus from ZenithOptimedia

Stokes will be responsible for leading new business and marketing across the 70 agencies in the global Maxus network, including heading global, multinational and key local pitches, as well as Maxus' wider branding and messaging.

When he starts his new job in March, Stokes will be based in London and will report to Lindsay Pattison, the media agency’s global chief strategy officer and chief executive of Maxus UK.

Stokes joined ZenithOptimedia in 2006 and was promoted to head of new business and marketing for ZenithOptimedia Worldwide in 2011, after holding other senior roles in the UK and Poland.

He has 16 years' experience in the media industry. After starting his career as a sales executive at IPC Media, he moved to media agencies, before spending a year as strategy and planning manager at Yahoo from 2004.

Vikram Sakhuja, global chief executive of Maxus, said: "Richard has all the skills required to help Maxus grow and build on the success we have seen over the last three years."

Snowdon left Maxus at the end of last year to join iProspect as EMEA new business and strategy director.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk