Detroit-based shopper marketing agency, the Mars Agency, recently announced the appointment of Suzanna Bierwirth as chief creative officer and the promotion of Jeff Stocker from chief creative officer to global chief creative officer.
In her new role, Bierwirth will be responsible for leading day-to-day creative, overseeing the creative leadership teams and product output, and setting the creative vision across the Mars Agency network of offices. As chief creative officer, she will report to Rob Rivenburgh, CEO of the Mars Agency in North America.
“We are thrilled to have someone with Suzanna’s rich creative pedigree and depth of big brand experience running creative at The Mars Agency, as we seek to expand our integrated approach of marketing to shoppers,” says Rivenburgh. “Suzanna is a big thinker and a creative force who demands the best from her teams and never stops pushing for smart design in her work. Moreover, her success as a business owner and retailer gives her added credibility to help deliver best-in-class retail marketing results for our clients.”
Bierwirth joins the Mars Agency from FCB Chicago and its global network, where she has spent the majority of her career as senior vice president and group creative director. At FCB, she helped build the creative department at FCB RED, its retail and engagement group. She also helped build the Smucker’s and Brown Forman businesses from shopper duties to agency of record and led creative for Coca-Cola and several other clients.
As one of the longest-tenured executives at the Mars Agency, Stocker has spent more than 35 years in a variety of agency roles including creative director, copywriter, art director and broadcast producer. He has a knowledge of shopper marketing and an expertise in developing creative that drive product sales for the agency’s clients.
Stocker has received more than 200 industry awards in his career, including a featured work found in Broadcast Marketing, a popular college textbook.
“Jeff has been instrumental in delivering game-changing creative leadership to our clients for more than 30 years and is a treasured resource across our industry, as his extensive recognition and many accolades attest,” says Ken Barnett, global CEO. “His promotion to global CCO is deeply deserved and in his new role, Jeff will help ensure that we’re providing the same level of distinctive, breakthrough creative for our clients wherever they do business around the world.”
For nearly 45 years, the Mars agency is a global leader in the shopper space, attracting a client base which includes Walmart, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Campbell’s, and Pfizer.
​Jeff Stocker
