Y&R Promotes Michael Sussman to President of BAV Worldwide

David Sable, Global CEO of Y&R, announced today that he’s promoting Michael Sussman to President of BAV Worldwide, Y&R. Sussman has been with Y&R for 17 years and was most recently the Global Director of Analytic Insights and Strategy for Y&R Advertising. Michael oversees BrandAsset Valuator, Y&R’s proprietary brand model and global database, along with other quantitative tools essential to the agency’s strategic process. He will now lead the charge of integration and growth of BAV throughout the agency.

“Michael has been part of the development of BAV since shortly after its inception,” said Sable. “He is deeply committed to the agency, full of passion for brands and masterful at interpreting data to tell compelling stories about them.

Michael has been part of our BAV team since its early days and is absolutely the best person to help us drive BAV forward in key markets. This is a shining moment for BAV, now in its 20th year; it remains the largest database with consumer perceptions of brands, and Michael will be fundamental in continually sustaining and differentiating its relevance in the market.”

In addition to working with Sandy Thompson, Y&R’s Global Planning Director, to continue to drive integration of BAV and analytics into Y&R’s strategic process, consulting across agency clients and driving thought leadership, Sussman will also oversee the global BAV research and fielding process. Sussman has been tasked with increasing the amount of “brandscape” studies being conducted in important markets; with eight new market studies already in progress this year.

Michael has also organized a team of regional strategic leads in key Y&R markets (“hubs of expertise”) to help guide the global fielding process. This team will foster greater collaboration and sharing of thought leadership across the Y&R network, as well as helping to drive deeper BAV consulting relationships with Y&R clients around the world. 

“It’s an honor to take the next step in my Y&R career, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future of BAV as we work with strategic leads across the network to raise the impact of our studies and data driven insights to new heights,” said Sussman. “I’m thrilled to take my 17 years of experience designing research, interpreting data, and exploring brand equity for Y&R’s clients with BAV, and integrating these learnings on a global level.” 

Sussman and his team will continue to partner with John Gerzema, Chairman and CEO of BAV Consulting and his team to build greater synergies between Y&R Advertising and BAV Consulting, which has its own client base.

"Michael and I go back a long way,” said Gerzema. “He has lived and breathed BAV for so many years, which helps him to continually bring new understanding of the data and the BAV model. We are looking forward to Michael’s development of the regional hubs across Y&R. I know that our clients will benefit from this new infrastructure and really look forward to collaborating with him again in his new role."