How Crossmedia U.S. CEO Kamran Asghar Grew the Agency From the Ground Up

Like many agencies, Crossmedia had to cut salaries during the pandemic. Though it did help the agency avoid layoffs, U.S. CEO Kamran Asghar pledged to reimburse employees for the salary reduction if he could. And on the heels of massive growth last summer, he did just that. "People really stuck with us, and we made good on our promise," said Asghar, who not only leads Crossmedia, but also owns a majority stake in the company. For Asghar, the agency's success is personal. He takes the time to learn each of his 300 U.S. employees' names, for example, and personally serves patties on "Burger Days" at Crossmedia’s Chelsea office, which is burger-themed in honor of all the time Asghar spent at burger joints building the nascent agency. (Before the German agency had a U.S. office, Asghar and founding partner Martin Albrecht would discuss their vision for the shop over burgers on Friday afternoons.) People before profit Last year, Crossmedia's revenue grew by double digits, though it declined to share exact revenue numbers. It reeled in 11 pieces of new business, even though Asghar put pitching on hold in September and prioritized his employees' mental health above profit as Crossmedia grappled with an industrywide talent shortage that could have led to burnout for Asghar's employees. This year, those employees are back to pitching, and Asghar expects the agency to again achieve double-digit growth. Asghar, who grew Crossmedia from the ground up alongside Albrecht, told Adweek the agency is moving beyond its entrepreneurial roots. "We're being very disciplined about what our mission is, and it's simple: We want to be the best fucking media agency in the world," said Asghar, who intends to double Crossmedia's size within five years and eventually see it become the market's largest independent media agency. We're being very disciplined about what our mission is, and it's simple: We want to be the best fucking media agency in the world.Kamran Asghar, CEO, Crossmedia Growing up Asghar also built Crossmedia with his wife, Jen Dela Rosa, who has been involved since the agency's inception and has held roles including media director, chief of staff and her current role as head of environment and design. And 22 years after launching the agency in the U.S., Asghar is ready to design a more mature Crossmedia. He estimates that more than 95% of the agency's accounts are agency of record relationships but believes flexibility could catalyze growth. "We think that we can offer not just media AOR services, but products and solutions for clients," he said. That includes more stand-alone consultative, strategic and analytics services, and planning for clients whose in-house agencies handle the rest. He also wants Crossmedia to play an active role in educating the media ecosystem on safe media consumption and how advertisers can buy media responsibly while accounting for diversity, equity and inclusion. "We believe our brand can stand for something more than just media planning and buying," Asghar said. "Crossmedia can stand for the role media plays in society." Asghar plans to become less involved in day-to-day decision-making and will hand some of those responsibilities off to the agency's newly expanded leadership team—this year, Adweek Media All-Star Ali Plonchak became Crossmedia's COO, and Kristen Metzger became its first chief people officer—as the company scales beyond what one leader can manage. “[Asghar] owns the place, and he sets the tone. And he cares as much about the people, I would say, as he does about the business and the clients,“ Metzger said, adding that the agency is "agile and nimble in a way that I've never experienced." Chief strategy officer Anne Bologna, who partnered with Asghar on client projects before joining Crossmedia and also hired the media agency when she was on the client side, described her relationship with Asghar as "three-dimensional." "The first thing I did when I got to Tripadvisor was hire Crossmedia, without a pitch, to run U.S. media,” Bologna said. Sharing the load gives Asghar more time to focus on the agency's employees and make strategic decisions. And since the agency is not mandating a return to the office, Asghar is taking Burger Day on the road this year. "I'm going to go to people's towns, and we're going to have it in person," he said. "If people aren't going to come the office, then why don't we go to the people?" Check out all of Adweek's 2022 Media All-Stars here.