Barkley names Reshma Karnik as chief media officer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Barkley, one of the largest independent creative idea companies in the U.S., announced today that Reshma Karnik has joined as its chief media officer. The role is an outgrowth of Barkley’s major spike in new business, including a number of fully integrated media accounts.

“Reshma’s digital and data-first approach really stood out to us. Plus, her time as a consultant at MediaLink gives her unique insight into best-in-class media department structures, processes and tools,” said Jeff King, CEO at Barkley. “I’m confident she will make an immediate impact on our media team and our clients.”

Karnik brings 17 years of business development, digital media, ad tech and analytics expertise to Barkley. She most recently served as vice president of data and technology solutions for a large strategic advisory firm, MediaLink, where she helped brands accelerate business growth, revenue, market share and transformation through media, advertising, investment, and emerging technologies.

Prior to MediaLink, Karnik was the vice president, global client results at Dentsu, where she was focused on digital media, performance measurement and analytics. She also led the company’s global data management platform and co-led Dentsu’s Clean Supply initiative to increase the availability of brand safe, fraud free and viewable inventory for clients. 

“Barkley’s ascent to become one of the nation’s leading independent agencies has been so inspiring to watch,” said Karnik. “I am thrilled to continue the agency’s vision of accelerating its media and data services while fostering a deeper integration with the company’s three idea centers — strategy, design and activation.”

Karnik will oversee a media team of more than 70 Barkley partners. Her hiring follows the recent addition of Hunter Rojas, SVP, analytics, measurement and performance, who is responsible for leading analytics, CRM, data science, and application development at Barkley.