Barry Kessel has assumed the rule of CEO and Jeffrey Ross has been promoted to president of Washington, DC-based RTC Relationship Marketing. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Kessel has served as senior strategist at RTCRM since November 2005, and Ross has been with RTCRM since 1990. Most recently, Ross served as RTCRM’s executive vice president. Kessel now reports directly to Wunderman chairman and CEO Daniel Morel.
As CEO, Kessel will focus on strengthening RTCRM’s capabilities and expanding its client roster. Ross takes over day-to-day agency operations. In addition, he continues to serve as senior counselor to clients in RTCRM’s healthcare practice.
Kessel joined Wunderman in 2001 as executive vice president, global account director on the IBM business. As chief client development officer, a role he moved into in 2004, Kessel was responsible for helping large U.S.-centric companies grow their businesses globally. He also served as president and managing director of Wunderman New York. Prior to Wunderman, he was with Brann Worldwide and Young & Rubicam, where, for more than 10 years, he was president, chief creative officer of Chapman Direct Advertising and General Manager of Stone & Adler, Toronto.
Prior to joining RTCRM, Ross served as director of marketing and public relations for the American Psychological Association, where he worked to innovate the marketing of the professional practice of psychology. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Asian studies from East Carolina University and has attended strategic marketing training at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Harvard Business School and the London School of Economics.
