Toby Gabriner, president of Carat Fusion, will quit the $320-million-billings direct and interactive agency at the end of the year, kicking off a search for his replacement.
He joined the agency in May 2003 as managing director of the San Francisco office, moving up to chief operating officer and then in January becoming president of the agency.
Gabriner’s decision to quit for career reasons comes only two months after Carat Interactive merged with Carat Direct to become Carat Fusion. The agency’s offices in San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago handle accounts like Gateway, Jenny Craig, Adidas, AOL, Kodak and RadioShack.
Sarah Fay will temporarily replace Gabriner. She was his predecessor at Carat and currently is president of the agency’s parent company, British-owned Aegis’ Isobar network. Isobar owns shops like Molecular and iProspect.
“The good news is that he’s not going to a competitor,” Fay said. “It’s a company in the digital space and someone we might partner with. We’re beginning a search for Toby’s replacement. We’re considering all options inside and outside the agency.
“It’s not a surprise,” she said. “It’s something that we’d discussed in the past month. It’s a matter of wanting to do something different.”
