Russell picked to lead Wunderman Toronto, three Blast Radius offices

Wunderman has named Mark Russell president of Wunderman Toronto and managing director of Blast Radius' Detroit, Chicago and Toronto offices, effective March 8.

Russell reports to Trish Wheaton, global CMO of Wunderman and chair of Wunderman Canada, and Gurval Caer, CEO of Blast Radius. Russell's role is focused on Wunderman clients Ford of Canada, Microsoft and Kraft. He replaced Don Wright, who is no longer with the company, and oversees a staff of about 200 across the four offices.

Russell previously served as managing director of direct, digital and marketing sciences for WPP's Team Detroit. The group is comprised of 350 employees from Wunderman, JWT, Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy and Mindshare and handles WPP's Ford account.

“Wunderman Toronto's offerings are centered around CRM and analytics, while Blast Radius has experience delivering digital solutions, and the goal is to bring them together and wind up with a complete service offering,” Russell said.