Don't miss ADWEEK House at Cannes, June 16-19. Join us as we celebrate our 45th anniversary and explore the industry's now and next. RSVP.
Creative consultancy Huge has a new CEO as Lisa De Bonis steps into the role formerly held by Mat Baxter, who led Huge through its structural reorganization and investments in artificial intelligence after taking the reins in 2021. Baxter is leaving the company to return to Australia for “family reasons.”
De Bonis previously served as chief product officer at Huge. In that role, she led the deployment of multiple Huge products and tools including Huge Live and its Creative Capital Index.
De Bonis joined Huge as its chief experience officer in September 2021. Prior to Huge, she served as managing director at Accenture Interactive.
“Huge is purpose-built to help brands solve complex problems through technology and innovation. Our people, our work and our new suite of AI-powered products are driving significant growth for clients and helping them on their business transformation journeys. I am honored to take on this role and look forward to working with the amazing team at Huge to help our clients win in the digital economy,” said De Bonis.
Founded in 1999, Huge is owned by IPG and has more than 1,200 employees across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
“Huge sits at the intersection of technology and creativity, building digital products that drive growth and transformation for marketers. Lisa is a digital-first thinker with deep and global experience in digital marketing, consultancy and creativity, who can build on the company’s positioning as a center for innovation that delivers business results,” said Philippe Krakowsky, CEO at Interpublic Group.
“Mat has been an important part of IPG for over 14 years, leading a range of organizations, people and capabilities with a great strategic brain and a big heart, and we’re thankful for his contributions.”
Next chapter of transformation
De Bonis takes over for Baxter, who oversaw the complete transformation of the agency from a digital shop to one that took more of the form of a creative consultancy.
During his tenure, Baxter gave inside access to author Michael Farmer, who chronicled Huge’s transformation in the book Madison Avenue Makeover. The book explained how Huge productized its offerings in hopes of better defining its capabilities and driving higher fees.
But last July, the agency announced a restructuring and a merger of its “client pods,” which were central to the original revamping effort. In Farmer’s book, he described the pod structure as collaborative, bringing together groups of individuals from different disciplines to create better outcomes for clients.
Multiple rounds of layoffs followed as the organization overhauled its talent to match how it was moving away from advertising and into more consulting work across a number of areas.
