VMLY&R Announces Beth Ann Kaminkow as CEO, VMLY&R New York

VMLY&R announces Beth Ann Kaminkow as New York CEO, succeeding Jason Xenopoulos, who becomes global chief creative officer across WPP’s work with Ford, effective immediately. Jason will continue in his role as VMLY&R’s North America co-chief creative officer. Both Beth Ann and Jason sit on VMLY&R’s global executive leadership team.  

Beth Ann moves into a dual role, retaining responsibility for VMLY&R COMMERCE globally as CEO along with the VMLY&R NY CEO position. Beth Ann will unite 1,000 creatives, strategists, data scientists and analysts into a single VMLY&R New York hub at 3 Columbus Circle. Bringing everyone together at 3 Columbus Circle 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, Beth Ann 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.

Jason will retain creative oversight of VMLY&R North America’s long-term vision and remain a strategic partner to Beth Ann 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, Jason 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 Jason’s 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.

Beth Ann 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.”

“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,” said Jason Xenopoulos. “I am especially excited about my new role on Ford and feel honoured 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.”

“I am so thrilled for the evolution of two of our top leaders,” said Jon Cook. “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.”