Los Angeles, CA, February 20, 2019 — Following its name change at the start of the new year from Mistress to The Many, the Santa Monica-based agency announced today the promotion of Todd Lombardo to Managing Director, Brand & Social. The position is a new role for the agency that was created to bring Lombardo’s years of account management experience as a digital and social leader to the forefront, and to apply the agency’s “modern media” thinking across the entire agency.
“Todd has continuously demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, a keen understanding of clients, the ability to drive growth, and a passion for our agency and our people,” said founding partner, Christian Jacobsen. “As we continuously evolve to meet the new demands of clients, it only makes sense for Todd to take on a bigger leadership role in today’s modern media environment.”
Jacobsen refers to how the agency’s play in social has changed the rest of its business. As the agency began tackling more and more social campaigns, such as creative efforts for Walmart, activations with FX for American Horror Story: Apocalypse, and QDOBA’s famous trolling campaigns, Lombardo’s insights have been instrumental in shifting strategies across all disciplines. In his new role, Lombardo will drive the hallmarks of advertising today—creative built for every expression from TV to Instagram, in-depth understanding of how audiences connect with brands and each other, and fast production tactics in the era of speed—across everything the agency touches.
“We are evolving the way we approach the discipline of advertising because we have to,” said Todd Lombardo, Managing Director, Brand & Social. “Today, audiences have a lot more power to avoid brands if they so choose. So it’s our job to help our clients navigate these unfamiliar waters and figure out new ways to invite people in and make a visible impact.”
Lombardo began his career as an account executive at Lowe & Partners, which ultimately merged with Mullen. Lombardo moved into digital as it began to explode, eventually landing as VP Account Director at Deutsch for six years, across multiple verticals and clients including IKEA, Verizon, Novartis, Revlon, Snapple, Coors, and TGIFridays, among others. He then went client-side as Director of Marketing at Yahoo! before starting with Mistress in 2016. Previously, as Director of Digital and Social at Mistress, Lombardo led the agency in embracing those disciplines.
The Many is well-known for its work with QDOBA Mexican Eats, including the brand’s #TheirWordsNotOurs “trollvertising” campaign against Chipotle that used consumers’ own tweets as a foil to own the queso conversation. Also falling under Lombardo’s leadership was the agency’s work with Walmart that used paid creative to reach large-scale audiences across social platforms, and a viral pre-season Instagram activation for FX’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse that used hidden video messages, easter egg puzzles, and other content to taunt followers as they buzzed about the upcoming premiere.
About The Many
Based in Santa Monica, California, The Many is an internationally-awarded agency with teams spanning creative, social, digital, design, media, and production. Formerly known as Mistress, The Many breaks the walls between strategy, creative, media and production in favor of impactful solutions to business challenges that include integrated brand experiences, world record-setting activations, social movements, influencer campaigns, earned media stunts, and media plans. In 2018, the agency won its third Ad Age Small Agency of the Year award. It has also been recognized at Cannes, One Show, Shortys, Clios, LIA, D&AD, Andys, and PromaxBDA.
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