Gerardo Marinas has officially taken up the post of managing director at MPG Canada (MPG/Maxxmedia). Marinas is new to Canada and has been working in a variety of positions with MPG Global for seven years. He was most recently SVP of international coordination, which involved streamlining operations across countries and markets. Before joining MPG in 1998, Marinas was marketing manager for Pepsi Cola in Madrid and was brand manager for Unilever’s AXE deodorant and other fragrances. He is fluent in Spanish, German, English, French, and Italian.
In a surprising move late last month, David Chung, long time president of MPG/Maxxmedia, departed the agency to make room for Marinas. Chung, a 30-year veteran of the business, joined Vickers & Benson in 1996 to establish Maxxmedia as a media planning and placement subsidiary of the company. At that time, V&B had sold its 50% stake in Genesis Media and hired Chung to bring the media component back into the agency. Prior to V&B, Chung was SVP, national media director at Lowe SMS, which had recently been merged into Roche Macaulay & Partners, and had also held senior media positions at J. Walter Thompson, FCB, and MacLaren:Lintas (now MacLaren McCann).
