Croud, the digital-first marketing company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve King as its new Chair of the Board. King will play a key role in guiding Croud through its next phase of growth — helping to lead with innovation, scale the business, deepen client partnerships, and strengthen Croud’s position as a leader in delivering data-driven marketing.
Steve King brings over two decades of global leadership experience, having founded Zenith in the UK and the US, establishing its presence on both sides of the Atlantic. He served on the Board of Publicis Groupe for more than 20 years, where he led the global launch of Publicis Media and later served as Global Chief Operating Officer.
King takes over from advertising veteran Jerry Buhlman, who steps down after five transformative years. He played a key role in the business as it expanded its reach geographically with several US acquisitions, and across capabilities, acquiring Born Social, Vert Digital and MetaGeni. He oversaw Croud’s growth trajectory which resulted in the successful investment by ECI in October last year. Jerry will continue to be involved in the business as a special advisor to the Board.
This new leadership appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Croud as it launches its market-leading AI-powered platform, powering the new proposition to ‘Deliver a Return on Intelligence’. The proposition fuses its people, technology and AI capabilities organised to deliver incremental and commercial returns. The company has invested heavily in key leadership and new technologies, integrating these into its brand and performance media, as well as creative offering.
He joins Croud, as the company leads with:
- Market-leading tools and technology: Croud OS, a proprietary operating system that’s fully embedded into client delivery and designed to drive measurable marketing effectiveness, with key tools like Brand AI and SEO.Max.
- The Croudie Network: A standout model offering a globally distributed, flexible, scalable resource aligned to marketing plans – a level of sophistication unique in the industry.
- Top-Tier leadership: The recent appointment of Debbie Ellison, as EMEA CEO, Char Hamill as new EMEA COO and Kris Tait stepping up into the new role of Chief Business Officer, having built a strong base for the US business to grow. The appointments follow an objective over the last 12-18 months to bring in strategic leaders from across the industry.
