Announcement: Zach Morrison Promoted To CEO
*This post was authored by Ben Kirshner, Former CEO of award-winning digital marketing agency Elite SEM.
Today (January 17, 2019) is a very special day for me personally. After 15 years, I am stepping down as CEO of Elite SEM and transitioning to Chairman of the Board.
At the same time, I’m happy to announce that Zach Morrison, former President of Elite SEM, has been promoted to the CEO role.
This has been an intentional transition that Zach and I have been working towards throughout 2018. With 3 acquisitions behind us, Elite SEM had an amazing 2018 with an over 40% organic increase in revenue in 2018 – driven by existing and new clients.
As you likely also know, Elite also introduced new services from key acquisitions, including social advertising agency OrionCKB, email marketing and creative agencyEmail Aptitude, and Amazon-focused ecommerce agency CPC Strategy.
This incredible performance is no accident and has happened through strategic decisions Zach and I have made for the business, as well as incredible execution and delivery of those decisions during this transition.
This change marks the beginning of a new chapter for us, while at the same time providing continuity of leadership as we seek to build on our success in driving exponential revenue growth and ROI for leading brands and enterprise clients.
As CEO, Zach will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the company and lead the executive team that he has built over the past year. Zach’s new role will expand his involvement with the Board of Directors and the industry at large, in addition to spending more time on investment opportunities and integration.
As for me, my role will look pretty similar to the way it’s been for the last few years. I will still be an active board member in the company and Elite SEM remains my priority. I will also be involved in business development, partnerships, marketing, PR, M&A activity, and fostering a positive culture.
Elite’s founding vision, roots, and DNA are what built us to the great business we are today, and as a founding member and now CEO, Zach will honor that history and legacy while continuing to evolve and grow our agency. He’s earned the respect of our clients, vendors, employees, and our Board of Directors, and personifies our core values through his unrelenting dedication to ‘strive for greatness.’
Zach is well-prepared to lead our organization into the future; has taken the initiative to study the job of a CEO and I’m looking forward to watching him continue to drive success across our organization and on behalf of our clients.
I couldn’t be happier and prouder of Zach for all the hard work and dedication he has put towards Elite since 2005. He has been a huge contributor to the success of the organization since he started with us, and no one deserves this promotion more than he does.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben Kirshner is the founder and CEO of award-winning digital marketing agency Elite SEM. A serial entrepreneur, Ben is also a seasoned Paid Search expert, NYU Adjunct Instructor, and thought leader with more than 20 years of experience building and working with multinational corporations and Fortune 1000 brands. Highly respected for his business savvy leadership skills and entrepreneurship, Ben consults for Gerson Lehrman (currently ranked top 2% of consultants worldwide) and speaks at industry conferences/events nationwide. He’s been featured in prominent news publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Mashable, Crain’s New York, AdAge, MediaPost, Brandchannel, Direct Marketing News, and Internet Retailer.
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