MADRID — Brand building and reputation management agency Marco has changed its management structure as part of its plans for further global expansion and a stock exchange listing this year.

Noelia Cruzado (pictured, left) and Diana Vall (right), the agency's managing directors of reputation and brand respectively, have been named as co-CEOs of the firm, having both started their careers at Marco more than 18 years ago.

Current CEO and founder Didier Lagae, who founded the firm in 2022 after holding leadership positions at Edelman and Weber Shandwick and being a communications leader for Levi’s and The Body Shop, will become executive chairman. In his new role, Lagae will focus on international expansion, as well as acquisitions and the preparation of a planned IPO on Euronext by the end of this year.

Lagae will continue to be involved in key multi-market and multi-service accounts, such as the World Avocado Organization and the European Patent Office. In addition, he will focus on the development of culture and talent within the agency.

He said: “In 2023, our growth plan has one of its major turning points, with several remarkable milestones. I am proud to have my two right-hand women become the new CEOs of the agency.”

Cruzado said the agency’s goal was to grow its income from €20 million to €100 million in the next five years: “This growth will be guided by our international vision and specialisation, which sets us apart as one of the leading expert agencies in European affairs, ratifying our reputation management services during a time where it is more necessary than ever to connect and generate engagement, both with consumers and stakeholders.”

Vall added that organic growth at the agency would come from brand building and creative work. Marco currently has more than 200 people working across its owned offices in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Miami, Mexico City, Bogota, Lima, São Paulo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Abidjan and Nairobi, as well as affiliated MSL offices in more than 100 markets.

In 2021, Marco acquired Africa Communications Group to extend its geographic reach in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in also recently it bought production company Carmela to produce advertising spots and branded content.

The agency has also branched out into television, as the first communications agency to produce a docuseries, ‘The New Frontiers of Communication’, which is available on Amazon Prime, as well as buying Spanish business magazine Ejecutivos.