Omnicom-owned global customer agency C Space – which counts Walmart, Ikea, McDonald’s and Tesco as key clients – has handed insight champion Jessica DeVlieger the role of global chief executive to succeed Charles Trevail, who will lead Omnicom’s Interbrand Group.
Currently president of C Space’s North American business, DeVlieger takes up the new job next month. Headquartered in Boston, C Space has offices in London, New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Mexico City and works for 150 of the world’s best-known brands.
DeVlieger has been president of the C Space business in North America for four years. Prior to that, she spent a decade spearheading the company’s sales and marketing efforts.
She sits on the executive committee for the Great Boston Chamber of Commerce, the board of Positive Tracks, an organisation that combines philanthropy with athletics to get kids active in both, and is a key supporter of WIRe (Women in Research).
Having partnered with global brands to deliver strategic customer insight and change programmes, DeVlieger says she is passionate about helping companies achieve deeper customer understanding, as a source of business growth. She has advised many of North America’s biggest brands, including Citi Group, Walmart, McDonald’s and Mars.
She said: “It’s a great honour to lead C Space, at such a pivotal moment. There is so much change in the world, and the ways companies interact with their customers is fundamentally and rapidly evolving. I feel so proud to lead an exceptional team, who are constantly innovating, to find new ways for the world’s biggest and most exciting businesses to connect with their customers, in more meaningful ways, to drive growth.”
Trevail added: “In addition to Jessica’s success as president over the past four years, her passion for our people, appreciation for great work and exceptional client track record, will enable C Space to grasp new opportunities.
“She is a proven leader, and her breadth of expertise and operational excellence has led her to make commercial decisions that deliver profitable revenue growth and lasting strategic impact.”
C Space is perhaps best known in the UK for its “customer as a service” (CaaS) scheme, launched in 2019, which allows companies to tap into a mix of online communities, quantitative insight, synthesis, proposition development and creative activation.
The CaaS suite of “always on” solutions is designed to enable brands to embed the customer into business decisions.
The offering combines tools and techniques from the worlds of insight and research, business consulting, communications, customer strategy, and advertising – to identify needs and gaps within a business based on what the customer both needs and wants.
CaaS combines multiple sources of up-to-the-minute data, technology and commercial consultancy to unlock, understand and embed the customer in organisations at every level.
Tesco was one of the first brands to sign up to the scheme in the UK, which has also been implemented by McDonald’s, Bose and Citi.
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