You may have missed the news last night after leaving the office on account of having things to do in real life, but Alexei Orlov announced his resignation from RAPP yesterday.
Around 5:30 yesterday, our inbox began filling up with tips indicating that Orlov had just sent out an all-staff email confirming that he would be leaving the Omnicom agency, effective immediately.
We do not have that email, which one tipster called “long-winded.” But we did run the agency’s release on Adweek, so we’ll recap for you here.
Orlov will be immediately replaced as acting CEO by Marco Scognamiglio, who previously held the titles EVP of client relationships and president of the EMEA and APAC regions. London-based Scognamiglio has spent 17 years with the RAPP organization and was widely seen as Orlov’s number two.
In a statement, he wrote: “Our company is on a great trajectory. We will remain laser-focused on our talent, driving results for clients and maintaining the strategic success of RAPP.” Scognamiglio will lead the global entity moving forward along with fellow 17-year veteran and COO/CFO Matthew Hafkin.
From Dale A. Adams, chairman/CEO of Omnicom’s DAS Group of Companies (which includes RAPP):
“Under the leadership of Alexei Orlov, RAPP has become a united global brand with a defining strategy and a point of differentiation in the marketplace. This strategy has led to more diverse and award-winning work, greater client retention and growth, and an impressive record of new business wins.”
Orlov’s statement read: “I am very proud that RAPP has grown in terms of clients and scope of work, which is a testament to our incredible talent. Marco and I have worked closely across a number of initiatives these past two years and RAPP is in good hands.”
He does not seem to have another job lined up at this time.
The news of Orlov’s departure came on the same day that Adweek and Campaign first posted on the RAPP legal team’s response to former U.S. president Greg Andersen’s suit. That response was filed on June 16 in L.A. but not covered by any trade press until yesterday. It essentially belittled and discredited Andersen in that way lawyers do, calling him terminally incompetent and labeling his claims “gross mischaracterizations” without directly disputing any of them.
Multiple sources who are either current or former RAPP employees also tell us that head of HR Carolyn Doud will soon leave the organization, which continues to employ her on retainer through August as per her severance agreement. This was a mutual decision.
According to tipsters, a group of employees from the RAPP office on Madison Avenue here in New York went out to dinner and drinks last night to discuss Orlov’s departure.
[Image via Business Insider/YouTube]