Group Director - Integrated Media Investment

Crossmedia launches XM Sports and Entertainment to bring independent strategy and accountability to sports investments. Veteran sports marketing leader Neil Carl joins Crossmedia to lead practice New York, NY, June 15, 2026 - Leading independent global media agency Crossmedia announced today the launch of XM Sports and Entertainment, a dedicated practice that helps brands evaluate, activate, and measure sports partnerships with greater transparency, accountability, and strategic alignment across media, sponsorship, and activation. Neil Carl joins Crossmedia as Head of XM Sports and Entertainment, responsible for leading the practice and advising clients on how to connect sponsorship strategy, media planning, activation, and measurement into a single, more effective investment approach. He brings decades of experience in sponsorship consulting, experiential marketing, brand leadership and integrated partnership strategy, and has a track record of negotiating and activating over $500 million in sports media and rights agreements across leagues, teams, athletes and major sporting events. "What drew me to Crossmedia was a shared belief in the power of sports as a critical connection point between brands and consumers," said Carl. "Throughout my career, it's been clear that sponsorships and media are most effective when planned together, not in silos. Fans don't experience them separately, and brands shouldn't manage them that way. As sports marketing grows more complex, brands need more than activation support. They need one partner to provide objective guidance on where to invest, how those investments work together, and how to measure the outcomes that matter. That's the opportunity we're building at Crossmedia, and that's where our independent model creates a meaningful advantage." XM Sports and Entertainment was created to help brands bring greater cohesion and independent strategy and accountability to their sports investments. As marketers deepen their involvement across leagues, teams, athletes, and live events, many still rely on disconnected partners to manage sponsorship, media and measurement, limiting visibility into performance, reducing efficiency and making it harder to unlock the full value of those investments across the broader marketing ecosystem. "The future of sports marketing isn't more specialization. It's better integration," said Kamran Asghar, global CEO and co-founder of Crossmedia. "Media has always been one of the most powerful ways brands participate in sports. What's been missing is a way to connect sponsorship strategy, media planning and measurement from the start. XM Sports and Entertainment brings those disciplines together, helping clients make better decisions and understand the full impact of their sports marketing efforts and investments." Unlike many sports marketing consultancies and agency offerings, XM Sports and Entertainment is built on Crossmedia's long established belief that neutrality, powered by independence and transparency, is non-negotiable. This means Crossmedia operates independently of sports properties, rights holders, and inventory sellers, allowing Crossmedia to evaluate sponsorships, media investments and partnership opportunities without commercial bias, helping clients make decisions based solely on business objectives and performance outcomes. About Crossmedia Crossmedia is the leading independent global media agency, offering integrated, holistic and accountable full-funnel and full-service capabilities for clients worldwide. For 25 years, Crossmedia has been committed to doing media and business the right way. Guided by the principles of Trust, Reason, and The Pursuit of Happiness, Crossmedia is a top-ranked media agency and has been named an Ad Age Best Places to Work for the past seven years in a row. Crossmedia has headquarters in NYC and hubs across the U.S., London, Germany, and Toronto. Clients include U.S. Bank, Invesco, Zalando, Sub Zero, Newell Brands, Herschend Family Entertainment, Lincoln Financial, and Planet Fitness.

Crossmedia names Anne Bologna as its first President. Bologna will take over the day-to-day U.S. operations and lead the executive team. New York, NY - Leading independent global media agency Crossmedia announced today that Anne Bologna has been named as its first President. "Crossmedia celebrated its 25th anniversary last month," said Kamran Asghar, Global CEO and Co-Founder of Crossmedia. "This milestone reinforces our long-standing commitment to the future as we continue executing our vision for the next 25 years. We are recognizing Anne for the work she has contributed and elevating her to a role where she will set the foundation of our growth plan and bring it to life." Bologna will take over the day-to-day U.S. operations and lead the executive team. She will also focus on building and activating the agency's vision to double revenue in 5 years, scale with "soul" (keeping culture intact), and realize its unique opportunity in the market as the leading global media indie and holding company alternative. Asghar, who will continue to serve as Global CEO, said: "Our industry is changing at lightning speed, and continuing to evolve and adapt is critical. Having Anne in the President's role will allow me to continue to focus on our long-term vision, growing our capabilities, and expanding Crossmedia's global footprint for the next 25 years and beyond." Bologna said: "I have spent the last several years focused on client business and building the strategy department, and it is an honor that Kamran has entrusted me to become the agency's first President. Kamran and I have worked side-by-side as friends and colleagues for many years. We share the same vision for operating Crossmedia guided by the principles of Trust, Reason, and The Pursuit of Happiness. The company is rare: bold, passionate, and poised for its next chapter." Bologna joined the agency six years ago as Chief Strategy Officer and took over client leadership duties in 2024, becoming Chief Strategy and Integration Officer. She built the first dedicated strategy team for the agency which has led to $100MM+ in net new business wins and she currently oversees 30+ clients. Bologna will continue to lead the department working with clients like Empower, Invesco, Ricola and Lincoln Financial. About Crossmedia Crossmedia is the leading independent global media agency, offering integrated, holistic and accountable full-funnel and full-service capabilities for clients worldwide. For 25 years, Crossmedia has been committed to doing media and business the right way. Guided by the principles of TRUST, REASON, and the pursuit of HAPPINESS, Crossmedia is a top-ranked media agency and has been named an Ad Age Best Places to Work for the past six years in a row. Crossmedia has headquarters in NYC and hubs across the U.S., London, Germany, and Toronto. Clients include U.S. Bank, Invesco, Zalando, Sub Zero, Newell Brands, Herschend, Lincoln Financial, and Planet Fitness.

Crossmedia and Mile Marker make moves now to grow in their rosters in 2026. Two independent media agencies, one larger and one still growing, positioned themselves for further growth in 2026, with both expecting a potential windfall of clients leaving the holding companies for better service and results. Crossmedia, which owns Dawn, a collective of specialty indie agencies, promoted Anne Bologna to president from chief strategy and integration officer, Digiday has learned. A seven-year veteran of the 25-year-old media agency, Bologna will take over the day-to-day U.S. operations and lead the executive team, having informally been chief client officer for the last two years as well. She's also charged with building out the agency's abilities in newer areas such as retail media and social in hopes of doubling revenue in five years, while maintaining the shop's inclusive culture crafted by co-founder and global CEO Kamran Asghar. "I'm a fish in water - when I'm in charge of a specific remit," said Bologna, who ran Fallon in the early aughts. "Being strategic, understanding the business, understanding the culture (what I would call the magic of Crossmedia), and knowing what clients' needs are pretty intimately since I've been looking after clients for almost two years now, I feel incredibly well positioned to take the day-to-day running of the operation off of Kamran's plate." The move frees up Asghar to pursue a more global agenda even as he looks for expansion opportunities here in the U.S. "When you're a founder-run and -led agency, you're often working in these multiple dimensions, and there's a lot of ideas and a lot of things you want to do," said Asghar. "With Anne in place, I can focus on those three pillars client happiness, people, happiness, and scaling the business, particularly here in the U.S." Bologna and Asghar have some history together, including when she hired Crossmedia without a pitch when she was running brand strategy at TripAdvisor. Asghar credits her with having led more than $100 million in net new business wins. Clients include Empower, Invesco, Ricola and Lincoln Financial. Crossmedia did lose an executive recently to fellow indie media agency Mile Marker, Digiday has also learned. The relatively new media shop hired Neil Smith to be its evp of growth, coming over from his global chief growth officer role. Smith's hire is joined by Emilie Vasu, who joined Mile Marker last month as vp of business development, reporting into Smith, who in turn reports directly to Scott Shamberg, the agency's president and CEO. Just under a year old, Mile Marker has enjoyed strong growth since formed out of the union of DR shop PlusMedia with omnichannel media agency Cage Point. In that time, said Shamberg, the agency has won nine out of the 13 pitches it's been in. But the plan, given its backing by PE firm Lightview Capital, is to keep growing at an aggressive rate in 2026. And that's predicated on landing larger clients than it's gotten in year one, said Shamberg. "We want to move up the chain aspirationally, in terms of the types of clients that we work with the sizes of their budgets," said Shamberg, "but still stick within the framework of who we believe we best serve. That's very ambitious growth marketers who have the necessary needs for the tools and technologies that the bigger agencies have, but historically have not sold to them because they just don't have the budgets. And they've outpaced the media boutiques, because the media boutiques just don't have the tools in tech. We're starting to get into that, that next level." Whether Crossmedia and Mile Marker will end up pitching the same potential clients remains to be seen. What DigiDay know is that they'll both be waiting, arms open wide, to take in any client refugee from the larger holdcos that focus more on the giants of marketing.