Mediabrands' Wahlstrom Taps Mark Fink to Head East Coast Operations

NORWALK, Conn., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kathleen DeCaire-Aden, CEO Wahlstrom, the leading hyper-local interactive and directory marketing agency, announces today the appointment of Mark Fink to the role of Vice President, Managing Director. As a part of Interpublic Group Mediabrands and Geomentum (NYSE: IPG), Wahlstrom brings a hyper-local consultative point-of-view to Print, Mobile, Search and Social Media Marketing for a robust list of national and dealer-based advertisers. As Vice President, Fink will be responsible for managing the business activity for the East Coast branch of Wahlstrom's agency operation, as well as strengthening and growing its client portfolio. This appointment comes ten weeks after DeCaire-Aden was named CEO, and is evidence of the agency's focus on bolstering its leadership team to activate dynamic, directional change for Wahlstrom as the directory marketing industry leads other media in leveraging local platforms to drive successful returns at the critical local point of sale. Powering Geomentum, the largest hyper-local marketing and media performance agency, Wahlstrom is part of the largest national hyper-local network, which currently plans and activates $2 billion in targeted local media annually, enabling some of the nation's largest marketers to Own the Neighborhood™.

As part of the Wahlstrom Executive Leadership team, Fink will be charged with guiding the activation of dynamic hyper-local marketing services for the agency's East Coast clients. Services include insights, media planning and investment across Yellow Pages, Business Listings Management, SEM/Paid Search, Online Directories, Organic Search Optimization and more. Wahlstrom's locally-focused products and services arm marketers with the leadership and technology necessary to own the local marketplace, both on and off-line. Working in alignment with Geomentum leadership, Fink will provide Wahlstrom's East Coast clients with fully-integrated, performance-driven hyper-local marketplace solutions that harness the power of the neighborhood for competitive advantage.

"When I started in this industry years ago, advertising focus was about big brand; big bang. Now, the paradigm has swung 180 degrees with technology complementing national branding with measurable local engagement, relevance and return. Wahlstrom has always done this so well -- helping national brands build momentum through local points of sale. Frankly, with so many media choices today, Wahlstrom's thought leadership in the local space has never been more relevant and needed," says Mark Fink, VP, Managing Director of Wahlstrom.

"We are pleased to welcome Mark to Wahlstrom. He is a dynamic leader who has proven his ability to activate burgeoning growth opportunities for blue chip brands," says Kathleen DeCaire-Aden, CEO of Wahlstrom. "Mark brings a wealth of expertise and practice in the business of advising traditional media clients on how to integrate on and off-line media in a fragmented marketing environment, and we're looking forward to leveraging his expertise for our East Coast client base."

Fink has most recently been Vice President, Business Development for Bayard Advertising, a recruitment specialist-advertising agency.  Prior to that, Fink held roles at Yahoo! HotJobs and TMP Advertising.

About Mark Fink:

Mark has most recently been Vice President, Business Development for Bayard Advertising, a recruitment specialist-advertising agency. In this role Mark has been responsible for high level organizational and account level strategies and tactics; review and assessment of emerging online technologies; and new business acquisition.

With more than 20 years in sales and business management roles in both traditional and new media, Mark joined Bayard from Yahoo! HotJobs, where he was both Northeastern District Sales Manager and Product Marketing Solutions Manager. Prior to Yahoo!, Mark was Regional Vice President and a P&L holder for TMP Worldwide, the agency division of Monster Worldwide.

Mark has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from CW Post Center-Long Island University and a BA degree in Political Science from Adelphi University.

About Wahlstrom: Wahlstrom (www.wahlstrom.com) is a print and interactive marketing expert with a local point of view. Bundling technological know-how with vast experience in brand strategy, Wahlstrom is the 3rd largest CMR/Yellow Pages agency in the world with more than 200 advertising professionals servicing over 300 brands. Wahlstrom delivers data-driven, national and local solutions that increase conversions.

About Geomentum: As the leading hyper-local marketing and media strategy and performance agency in the U.S., Geomentum (www.geomentum.com) helps marketers to Own the Neighborhood™ by navigating the challenges and opportunities leading up to the point of sale. Powered by a network that plans and places more than $2 billion in hyper-local media annually, Geomentum leverages proprietary geospatial technology and data for many of the largest marketers in the country, delivering strategic marketing investment plans for tens of thousands of stores and engaging millions of shoppers weekly.

SOURCE Geomentum