Digital Kitchen Appoints Former Olson CCO Dennis Ryan as CEO

By Erik Oster 

Chicago-based Digital Kitchen appointed Dennis Ryan as CEO, officially effective as of May 17, AdAge reports. He will report to Michael Birkin, CEO of Kyu, part of Japanese holding company Hakuhodo DY Holdings which purchased Digital Kitchen last year. 

Ryan served as Olson’s first Chief Creative Officer for over four years, beginning in March of 2011, leaving to become principal at Minneapolis-based Fetrow Ryan & Partners last summer. While with Olson he helped the agency add new accounts such as McDonald’s, SHARP, Supercuts, wet ‘n wild and Aurora Health Care. Before joining Olson he spent around nine and half years serving as CCO for Element 79 Partners (which folded into DDB Chicago in 2012). Prior to that he served as executive creative director for JWT for around four and half years, working with clients including Kraft, Nestle, Unilever and Blockbuster. 

“The key is to find a way to make what I think is a tremendous culture and working product more accessible and relevant to more clients,” Ryan told AdAge. 

Advertisement

Digital Kitchen’s current client roster includes Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Netflix and AT&T.

Advertisement