Jellyfish lures Merkle duo to bolster leadership team

Guilfoyle, Pierre, and Byrne: Leadership boost

Global digital agency Jellyfish has raided Merkle’s EMEA operation to strengthen the leadership team of its sales operation, as part of the business’ ambitious expansion strategy.

Thomas Byrne, who was Merkle EMEA’s executive vice-president of agency services becomes EVP of sales and partnerships, while head of agency sales Adam Guilfoyle becomes VP of sales and partnerships.

In the last year alone, Jellyfish has made seven acquisitions, expanding its depth of expertise, capabilities, and geographical reach and entering new markets including Australia. The acquisitions follow investment from the Fimalac Group in November 2019.

The duo have been credited with building Merkle’s EMEA presence in just three years. Byrne joined the business when it bought Periscopix in 2018; he had been VP of growth and partnerships since 2009. Guilfoyle joined Merkle in 2017 from Scoota.

Jellyfish chief executive Rob Pierre said: “Tom and Adam have been involved in digital marketing since the early days and have developed a wealth of knowledge, experience and client relationships in that time. It speaks volumes about what we’ve built and continue to build at Jellyfish that we are drawing top talent from the networks.

“Our business infrastructure, global model and culture are coming together to make Jellyfish a magnet for some of the best talent in our industry.”

The appointments follow that of Tom Roach, who joined Jellyfish as vice president, brand planning, earlier this year from Adam & Eve/DDB.

Launched in 2005, Jellyfish has become one of a select few globally managed Google Marketing Platform Partners, and claims to have grown at an average of 45% a year consistently over the last eight years.

The company’s recent acquisitions include Amazon Marketplace software and consultancy Seelk; creative technology and services agency Splash; ecommerce global content specialist Quill; gamification, content, data, and technology consultancy Webedia Brand Services; and Australian data solutions, consulting, implementation and training business Data Runs Deep.

They joined Brazilian marketing automation specialists Reamp and Mexican digital marketing and analytics agency San Pancho, which were acquired last year.