Malcolm Speed retired yesterday after five years as New York-based chairman/CEO of Omnicom Group Inc.’s direct marketing agency Rapp Collins Worldwide.
Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services division said Gary VonKennel would immediately succeed the 52-year-old Speed. VonKennel, 55, was chairman/CEO of Omnicom shop Tracy Locke Partnership, Dallas, TX, and president of sibling agency U.S. Marketing & Promotions, Torrance, CA.
Speed joined Rapp Collins in 1999. He was last year’s jury president for the first Cannes Lions Direct awards held in Cannes, France, by the International Advertising Festival.
Founded in 1965, Rapp Collins has 2,000 employees in 70 offices across 38 countries. The U.S. accounts for half of the staff.
Rapp Collins has clients such as Novartis, SBC Communications, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, DirecTV, Mercedes-Benz USA, the New York Knicks, MSG/Radio City, Kaiser Permanente and Continental Airlines.
