VaynerMedia names new EMEA chief as Sarah Baumann exits

VaynerMedia has revealed a new EMEA leadership team following the departures of managing director Sarah Baumann and its creative and strategy leads.

Daisy Domenghini, the agency’s head of client services has been promoted to managing director and VJ Anand, the agency’s head of creative in APAC, will relocate to London to become EMEA executive creative director, succeeding Becky McOwen-Banks, who resigned at the end of June.

The pair join a leadership team that consists of head of strategy Allan Blair, head of media Ben Allison, head of finance Ryan Fitzpatrick and head of people and experience Kate Thrumble.

Baumann has led VaynerMedia EMEA since 2019 and is a former deputy chief executive of Leo Burnett. 

Gary Vaynerchuk, the global chief executive of VaynerMedia, said she had left to pursue an “exciting” new challenge. 

Domenghini joined VaynerMedia in October 2021 and previously spent nearly 10 years at Engine Group, where she rose to global client managing director. She takes the reins at an agency that has grown its London team by 21% in the past year and recently won a social and strategy brief for Durex. Its other clients in this region include Hydrow, Kraft-Heinz, NatWest Group, TikTok and Tinder.

“Since day one, I felt at home at Vayner and I’m immensely proud to have been given the opportunity to lead such talented individuals and ambitious clients,” Domenghini said. “We’re truly built for the modern age of marketing, created from the consumer up, and our clients see growth and traction with us. Gary’s vision and ability is breeding a new tribe of marketers and creating a restless energy that means we’re constantly evolving to provide a better service.” 

Vaynerchuk told Campaign that Domenghini was a standout candidate to succeed Baumann, despite having been at the agency for less than a year.

“Sarah Baumann who has been leading our office is now exploring new ventures, and we are always excited to support our alumni on,” Vaynerchuk said, adding that Baumann played a pivotal role establishing VaynerMedia in EMEA, after Eric Fulwiler, who launched the EMEA agency left.

“Daisy has come in and she just gets [our business]," he added. "She has demonstrated exceptional qualities of being a great leader, truly understanding our integrated model of having creative and media working seamlessly together.”

Anand, who will join the London office in November, manages creative teams across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia and India. He has led projects for PepsiCo and Prudential.

“VJ is a superstar as head of creative in our APAC office. I am confident that their partnership will propel our rapidly expanding presence in EMEA,” Vaynerchuk said.

Anand added: “I will really miss the APAC team, but I leave immensely proud that they are all rocketships and working with some of the world’s best brands. Here’s to exploring and building original, cutting-edge models of creativity with Daisy and the rest of the team in EMEA.”