NEW YORK – New York-based agency sparks & honey has made executive appointments to two new positions, Mike Lanzi was named Chief Client Officer while Paul Butler was appointed as Chief Operating Officer.
Lanzi will oversee the full client portfolio across all sparks & honey offices globally, managing all client relationships, and leading the team and strategy for account growth, client satisfaction and retention through delivery of superior work product. Butler will work on global operations and strategy for sparks & honey, including the expansion of the agency’s daily culture briefing and enhancing the cultural intelligence system. Both will report directly to Terry Young, CEO and Founder.
The appointments of Lanzi and Butler is part of the agency’s expansion staff with recent additions to the content and editorial teams, cultural strategy teams and client services following its expanded client relationships in both new business wins and growth of existing ones. Majority of sparks & honey’s current client roster are included the Fortune 500 PepsiCo, AT&T, Unilever, Gerber, Humana, Visa and Jarden.
“Mike and Paul are both stellar professionals who are joining us at a crucial time for sparks & honey,” said Young. “Mike’s history of exceptional account management coupled with strong leadership skills make him the ideal person to lead our client services organization. Paul has a proven track record of building businesses and scaling operations with the right balance of focus and flexibility. It was quite a coup to win both of these talents, and we are excited to have them bring their unique capabilities to our company as we build the business globally.”
Lanzi bring with him more than 25 years of agency experience. Before moving to sparks & honey, he worked as a Global Managing Director for Hershey at Arnold Worldwide where he spent six years as Managing Director of the New York office and EVP, Group Account Director. Before that, Lanzi was Managing Director of StrawberryFrog’s New York Office; SVP, Director of Enterprise Operations: Bank of America at Omnicom; Enterprise Director: Bank of America at Interpublic Group; and SVP roles at Grey Worldwide and The Martin Agency.
“The momentum sparks & honey has built in only two years is simply astonishing,” said Lanzi. “This role combines leadership, strategy, business development and client services — expertise that I have spent my entire career mastering — and I am thrilled to put those skills to use as this this company continues on its path of exponential growth. I can’t think of a more exciting place to be right now.”
Meanwhile, Butler was a General Manager for ASPiRE where he first launched the ad-supported cable network and grew its base of advertisers, distributors, original programs and strategic partners. Butler has also previously held positions in business affairs and/or business development at UP TV, VH1 and Flavor Unit Entertainment.
“sparks & honey is evolving at a remarkable rate, not only in size, but also in offerings and influence,” said Butler. “I feel honored to have been charged with providing strategic direction at such a critical time and privileged to be working with some of the smartest and most innovative professionals in the business.”
