WGSN Selects Steve Markov to Lead Commercial Efforts for the Americas

NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- WGSN (www.wgsn.com), the world's pre-eminent style and trend forecaster, today announced it has promoted Steve Markov to Chief Commercial Officer for the Americas.  In his new role, Markov will lead WGSN's operations and sales efforts in the Americas.  

Markov is replacing Michael Gazala, who will step down as president, Americas on June 30, 2010 to work on a number of personal philanthropic projects he has become involved with over the past several years related to wildlife conservation and animal protection.

"Michael has done an extraordinary job for WGSN in the Americas, restoring our sales and renewals to pre-recessionary levels and building an extremely solid foundation for continued growth," said Susanna Kempe, CEO of WGSN.  "While we are sad to see him leave, I have every confidence that Steve is the right person to build upon WGSN's strong momentum in the Americas and take the business to new heights."

Markov is an accomplished leader with extensive sales, marketing and operations experience.  He joined WGSN in January 2010 as vice president, sales, for the Americas.  Over that period he has lead WGSN's expansion into professional services and advertising agencies, restructured new business and account management organization and processes, and lead the development of country plans for the Mexican and Canadian markets.

Prior to joining WGSN, Markov has held senior sales, business development and marketing positions at number of leading companies including Bill Gates' digital content business Corbis Images, Teletrax Media Verification Services, AT&T, Ameritech/SBC, and Zoopa.com.  Markov also founded his own sales and marketing consultancy, Innovative Solutions.  Based in Los Angeles the firm specialized in partnerships and promotions, brand building, sales and marketing integration, and client acquisition & retention.

"I'm extremely excited to be leading WGSN's efforts in the Americas," said Markov.  "For more than a decade, WGSN has been recognized around the world as the no. 1 trend forecasting and product development service. The stellar team we have assembled here in the Americas is not only dedicated to maintaining our leadership position, but significantly adding to it."

About WGSN

WGSN is the global authority on style and design. The company identifies and analyzes current and future style trends and provides its customers with state-of-the-art online tools that that can be used to create commercially successful products and services.  WGSN defines and shapes wining style and design for over 36,000 customers globally. WGSN customers include many of the world's leading apparel, style, design and retail companies including Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas, Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products, Benetton Group, and Marks and Spencers, among others. WGSN is headquartered in London and has offices all over the world, including Milan, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Tokyo. For more information, visit www.wgsn.com. Follow WGSN on Twitter: @wgsn.

SOURCE WGSN