Michael Karg

Michael Karg

Chief Executive Officer at Ebiquity plc
London, United Kingdom

About me

Senior executive with over 21 years of experience in marketing of which 15 in digital consulting and technology. During that time I accumulated extensive work experience in the US, Europe, and Asia. This comes with a proven track record in:

- Managing a global P&L-- 100M US$ plus in revenues
- Leading diverse teams across geographies, worldwide
- Defining and executing transformational growth strategies
- Turning around under-performing businesses; since 2009 seven restructures
- Evaluating M&A deals and working on post merger integrations; nine deals in the last five years
- Doing business in China; grew revenues between 2010 and 2014 by 3.5 times
- Building and managing strategic partnerships (e.g., with Adobe, Hybris, etc.)
- Operating in a large, publicly traded holding company environment

Positions

Chief Executive Officer
Ebiquity plc
January 2016 - Present (8 years 11 months)
Ebiquity is a leading independent marketing analytics specialist. Brands worldwide use Ebiquity's expertise and objective data insights to optimise their marketing expenditures and investments; including 85% of the world's biggest advertisers. Ebiquity employs over 800 people in 14 countries globally including the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Iberia, Russia, Singapore, China and Australia.

Ebiquity is listed at the AIM-- stock code EBQ
Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors (NASDAQ: TZOO)
Travelzoo
September 2013 - Present (11 years 3 months)
Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) is a global Internet media company. With more than 27 million members in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and 25 offices worldwide, Travelzoo® publishes deals from more than 2,000 travel, entertainment and local companies.

As a non-executive director I serve on the audit and disclosure committees and chair the compensation committee.
President, Razorfish France
Razorfish
May 2015 - December 2015 (7 months)
Director of the Board, Razorfish UK Limited
Razorfish London
November 2014 - December 2015 (1 year 1 month)
CEO International
Razorfish
May 2013 - December 2015 (2 years 7 months)
My responsibilities as CEO, International include:

- P&L ownership for all of Razorfish’s markets outside of North America; annual fee revenues of over US$ 110M
- Managing around 1,100 employees in fifteen offices across eight countries (i.e., UK, France, Germany, Italy, India, China, Hong Kong, Australia)
- Defining and executing the strategy and positioning for Razorfish International
- Developing and implementing organic growth and acquisition plans
- Advising senior clients across multiple vertical industries (e.g., automotive, high-tech, IT, financial services)
- Working with internal and external partners to identify and define next generation digital services and products across technology platforms, digital media, commerce, social, and mobile
- Defining our strategic relationship with technology partners (e.g., Adobe, Hybris); under my leadership Razorfish became a top 3 Adobe partner in Australia and a top 3 Hybris partner in China
Member of the Board of Directors, Razorfish Hong Kong
Razorfish
August 2010 - December 2015 (5 years 4 months)
Member of the Board of Directors, e-Crusade Holding Company Limited (Hong Kong)
e-Crusade Holding Company
August 2010 - December 2015 (5 years 4 months)
Member of the Board of Directors, Razorfish Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
Razorfish
December 2009 - December 2015 (6 years)
Chairman of the Board, Razorfish Germany
Razorfish
August 2012 - July 2013 (11 months)
P&L responsibility
Integrating the local German office into the global Razorfish network
Defining the strategy and positioning for the local German market
Offices in Berlin and Frankfurt
President EMEA
Razorfish and Digitas International (Publicis Groupe)
September 2011 - May 2013 (1 year 8 months)
P&L responsibility
Steering of selected multinational and large local clients in various sectors such as automotive, IT, telco, quick service restaurants, etc.
700 plus employees across five offices in the UK (2), France (1), Germany (2)
Strategy and positioning of agencies in EMEA
Working with internal and external partners to develop next generation digital services and products across social media, mobile, technology
Capability development
Partner management
Driving operational excellence
COO International
Razorfish and Digitas International (Publicis Groupe)
September 2010 - May 2013 (2 years 8 months)
P&L accountability
Steering of selected multinational and large local clients in various sectors such as automotive, IT, Telco, quick service restaurants, etc.
Driving operational excellence across 17 office: UK (2), France (1), Germany (3), India (2), Singapore (1), Mainland China (3), Hong Kong (2), Australia (1), and Brazil (2)
Roughly 1,700 full time employees
Merger & acquisition evaluation and integration (e.g., eCrusade in Mainland China & Hong Kong, KitCatt Nohr in London)
Restructuring experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong, UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Brazil
Strategy and positioning of agencies in EMEA and APAC
Near- and off-shoring of services to partners in Eastern Europe, Latin America, South East Asia, and China
SVP Global
Digitas
January 2009 - September 2010 (1 year 8 months)
Managed multinational client such as Vauxhall & Adam Opel (General Motors), Samsung
New business development
Interim leadership of Digitas London, UK
Restructured Digitas London, UK post de-merger with Publicis Modem London, UK
Restructured and repositioned local Razorfish agency in Madrid, Spain
Co-led post-merger integration and restructuring of Digitas Greater China
SVP, Relationship Lead
Digitas
October 2007 - January 2009 (1 year 3 months)
Re-located from Boston, US to London, UK in January of 2008
Led multinational clients such as Vauxhall & Adam Opel (General Motors) and Samsung
Acted as relationship lead for at&t in the US
Vice President/Director Strategy & Analysis
Digitas
October 2003 - September 2007 (3 years 11 months)
Relationship leader of global clients such as at&t (b2b), SAP, and BayerSchering Pharma
Developed marketing strategies and programs
Designed global campaigns and executed roll-out
New business development
Crafted global marketing organisation of Bayer post merger with Schering
Developed of at&t's global b2b portal
Led 120 plus full time employees in Strategy & Analytics team in Boston & Detroit, US (roughly 20M US$ in revenues)
Co-lead Strategy & Analytics team on Microsoft
Developed audience strategies for Microsoft's key targets audiences (IT Professional, Knowledge Worker, etc.)
Designed and implemented strategies and programs targeted to IT Professionals and Decision Makers
Co-developed /enhanced/contributed to several customer research and analytics programs (including customer segmentations, the world-wide customer satisfaction study, etc.)
Vice President/Associate Director, Strategy & Analysis
Digitas
January 2002 - October 2003 (1 year 9 months)
Led Strategy & Analysis team on General Motors brands such as Pontiac, GMC, Saab, OnStar
Developed marketing strategies and KPIs
Defined learning agenda
Built business cases
Associate Director, Digital Strategy Group
Digitas
September 2000 - December 2001 (1 year 3 months)
Strategy & Analytics lead of global relationship with Ericsson
Member of the Strategy & Analytics team on AT&T Wireless, Bayer Pharma, Domino's Pizza, Charles Schwab, etc.
Developed marketing strategies including loyalty programs
Designed business plans
Established KPIs and measurement plans
Research Assistant
University of St Gallen
March 1995 - January 2000 (4 years 10 months)
Advised companies like Hilti, Siemens, and Credit Suisse on customer acquisition, retention, and marketing profitability topics
Member of the research program 'Best Practice in Marketing'
Published several case studies, articles and books
Assistant to the Commercial Counsellor
Austrian Embassy for Malaysia and Brunei
January 1994 - November 1994 (10 months)
Consulted Austrian and Malaysian companies on market entry strategies
Intern
Austrian Embassy for Malaysia and Brunei
May 1992 - June 1992 (1 month)
Prepared recommendations for Austrian companies entering the Malaysian market
Freelance Telesales Executive
DSV-Studentenverlags GmbH
December 1989 - April 1992 (2 years 4 months)
Sold corporate human resource advertisements

Education

Visiting Fellow, Business Administration

1999 - Present (25 years 11 months)
Visiting Research Fellow as part of doctoral program Invited by Professor Anita McGahan (Institut for Strategy and Competitiveness at HBS) Received a scholarship from the Swiss National Science Foundation for my doctoral research

Doctoral Degree, Business Administration (Marketing)

1994 - Present (30 years 11 months)
Thesis: Kundenakquisition als Kernaufgabe im Marketing, Dissertation St. Gallen [Customer Acquisition as a Core Marketing Task]

lic.oec.HSG, Business Administration (Finance & Accounting)

1989 - Present (35 years 11 months)
Special emphasis on Asian studies Masters thesis: 'Service Quality Management for Home Delivery Food Products'

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