David Kenny is one of the true visionaries of the marketing industry. As Managing Partner of VivaKi, the strategy entity Publicis Groupe launched in 2008 to leverage the combined scale and service of Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia, David shapes some of the world’s most innovative and strategic marketing solutions for some of the world’s biggest brands. As a member of Publicis Groupe’s management board (the Directoire) and its Executive Committee (the P12), David – along with VivaKi managing partner Jack Klues, who also sits on the boards – helps chart the holding company’s approach to an increasingly complex media world.
David was digital before digital became the center of our communications world. From 1997 until he joined VivaKi in June 2008, David was chairman and CEO of pioneering digital marketing agency Digitas. In his position there, David was on the front lines of industry change, through the dot-com boom and bust and into a world of more measured growth. During that time, he led Digitas through more than a decade of evolution and growth – including opening multiple offices in Europe, Asia and the U.S. – to an industry-leading position in digital and direct marketing services (and a cornerstone of Publicis Groupe’s global digital offerings).
Though he’d never want to be called a “wunderkind,” pre-Digitas David was a senior partner at the global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company (where, in 1995, he was named a member of its Policy Committee at the age of 33). He has also held marketing and strategy positions with General Motors Corporation.
David has a Bachelor of Science from the General Motors Institute/Kettering University and an M.B.A. from the prestigious Harvard Business School. He has been an active participant in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and is a global champion of sustainable marketing and communications. He sits on the board of directors of the Ad Council, Akamai Technologies Inc., and Teach for America.
