Merkle reveals senior team for UK experience practice

Dentsu-owned agency Merkle has revealed the leadership team for its new UK Experience & Commerce (E&C) practice, spearheaded by the UK lead Paul Lynch.

The company says the practice, which launched in April, is part of a multi-year global strategy and investment plan that brings together agencies from around the world to deliver a joined-up customer experience and commerce practice.

It offers Merkle’s combined CXM offering across analytics, B2B, data and martech, media, and strategy and transformation to support brands to deliver against consumers’ continuously evolving expectations.

Lynch, who formerly led LiveArea as vice president and managing director before the acquisition in 2021, is head of Merkle UK E&C. He leads a UK practice that comprises of over 500 staff from Merkle’s UK CX practice, the UK commerce arm of Dentsu, as well as service centres in Bulgaria and India.

The senior leadership team reporting to Lynch are chief operating officer Ben Smith, who joined with the integration of Dentsu’s commerce business, and chief experience officer Benoit Soucaret, previously LiveArea’s group creative director. Samantha Mansfield, former LiveArea senior strategy director, becomes head of strategy and Sarah Painter retains her role as vice president of customer experience.

In addition, Andrew Chothia, who joined from Dentsu’s UK commerce team, leads client services for the practice and is responsible for meeting ever-evolving customer expectations. Lyubomir Cholakov, who also moved over with Dentsu’s commerce business, leads the service centres in Sofia, Bulgaria, which comprise more than 200 people.

Finally, Richard Mathias, previously from LiveArea, leads technology strategy, while Paul Bidder leads E&C sales as part of Mark Atkinson’s UK based Merkle sales team, helping to ensure Merkle brings in the right clients and matches them with the right practice areas.

Paul Lynch said: “In a world where convenience is ubiquitous, brands must find new ways to connect with consumers seamlessly and frictionlessly to keep up with rapidly changing customer expectations. That means creating next-generation customer experiences by building the ultimate connected experience across the total customer journey.

“This leadership team will ensure that Merkle’s Experience & Commerce practice will deliver efficient, rich, intelligent customer experiences at scale across all touchpoints so that our clients can truly connect with their customers. And I’m immensely proud and excited about the leadership line up we have in place.”

Merkle UK chief executive Anne Stagg (pictured) added: “There is now a huge opportunity in this space as brands understand the importance of the customer journey with connected experiences. Our UK leadership team brings us one step closer to making that vision a reality in the market.

“Together we can keep up with the rapidly evolving consumer behaviours and expectations, deliver efficient, rich customer experiences at scale and help connect brands with their customers.”