MSQ hires Brainlabs CEO as first executive media chief

MSQ, the tech, data and creative agency, is beefing up its offering with the appointment of its first executive director of media, a new group-level role designed to innovation and lead the expansion of the group’s end-to-end offering.

Joanna Lyall joins MSQ with more than two decades of experience across global networks, scale-up and start-up environments, leading growth and transformation for a wide range of brands.

Her leadership background includes serving as the UK managing director of Mindshare, as well as being the UK managing director of Freeda Media before going on to become the UK & EMEA CEO of Brainlabs, where she spearheaded the development of more integrated services beyond performance marketing.

She has also co-founded several businesses, including The Better Menopause, a DTC women’s health brand and Grow, an innovation-focused agency within WPP.

Lyall will play a key role in shaping the future development of MSQ’s group offer, bringing together creative, media, data and tech in new and more connected ways and strengthening the group’s proposition as a truly modern, multi-disciplinary partner to brands.

She will report to MSQ chief executive Peter Reid and sit on the group executive board to help shape strategic priorities across the business.

With media playing a critical role in the group’s integrated model, Lyall will work closely with Simon Davis, CEO of Walk-In-Media, and Ryan Scott, CEO of 26PMX, both part of the MSQ group.

Together they will champion collaboration and innovation, with a focus on delivering outcomes for clients, ensuring that MSQ’s solutions align with the demands of contemporary marketing – connected, data-informed, and outcome-focused; blending relevant capabilities from across the group.

Lyall said: “The pace of change in media presents both a challenge and a real opportunity, pushing us all to think and work in more connected ways. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the brilliant teams across MSQ and helping shape the next phase of growth. There’s a real potential to create something powerful by bringing creative and media thinking even closer together, building truly integrated solutions that deliver more value for clients in a rapidly changing landscape, and MSQ remains uniquely built to do this.”

Peter Reid added: “Joanna’s appointment marks an important milestone as we continue to accelerate the growth and evolution of our integrated model.

“She brings exceptional experience in building progressive, high-performing agencies and a deep understanding of how to connect media and creativity in ways that drive meaningful results. She will be instrumental in helping us deepen the collaboration across our agencies and capabilities and deliver even greater impact for our clients.”