Roth Ryan Hayes Team Members

Practice Leader and Media Management Expert

Influential and decisive, I set clear expectations while fostering positive work culture grounded in innovation, engagement, collaboration, and accountability. I have effective cross-functional consultation skills and a track record of driving growth and value for brands. I am a trusted advisor with strong business acumen and technical capability. I operate efficiently in different corporate cultures and industries including B2B and B2C; and, am passionate about helping my colleagues and clients succeed.

I founded and led high performing practices within globally matrixed and geographically dispersed management consulting companies while providing lasting impact on business results. Solutions include: process improvements; accountability and procurement services; contract compliance; risk management and controls implementation; agency searches; cost savings initiatives; digital in-housing; media optimization; change management; and, organizational effectiveness.

I advise some of the worlds' largest brands in CPG, Technology, QSR, and Pharmaceutical, winning awards and serving on brand leadership councils. 

Chris has over two decades of expertise developing digital and integrated marketing solutions, having most recently served as Global CMO of Code and Theory. While at Code and Theory, he shepherded a comprehensive repositioning of the agency’s business development approach and positioning, resulting in the acquisition of the largest account in the agency’s history, New York Life. In repositioning Code and Theory, he allowed the agency to break into new categories such as health and wellness, insurance, and tourism, adding Quest Diagnostics, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Intel, Google, and Brand USA to the agency’s roster.

Prior to Code and Theory, he drove periods of unprecedented growth as the Global CMO of Young & Rubicam, HUGE, and Critical Mass. As HUGE’s first-ever CMO, he took the agency through a period of rapid expansion, winning fifty pitches in a single year, and orchestrating the 2014 partnership between Samsung and Usher, which produced one of the most successful viral videos of all time. As Global CMO of Young & Rubicam, he repositioned the storied Madison Avenue agency and evolved its client base for the future. Chris is a strong strategic thinker, active practitioner, and perennial entrepreneur.

Chris is frequently quoted on CNN and in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and Advertising Age. 

Matt most recently served as Global CEO of WPP’s United Network. Prior to joining WPP, Matt was Co-Chairman and President of Global Brands at Havas Worldwide. While at Havas, he profitably managed a 450-person staff of integrated communications professionals. Among the global clients he worked closely with were Jaguar, Reckitt Benckiser, Merck, Volvo, and Live Nation. His domestic clients included New York Life, Atlantic City, Dos Equis, and others.

Prior to joining Havas Worldwide, Matt served as EVP of Havas's sister agency, Arnold Worldwide. While at Arnold, he led the agency’s winning team in a global Volvo agency review, subsequently staffing and managing the Volvo account.

Early in his career, Matt rode the first wave of the digital revolution, founding integrated agency Ryan, Drossman & Partners. A pioneer in digital technologies, the agency launched renowned digital-first brands such as MovieFone, SportsLine.com, TheStreet.com, Verio, and Cantor Fitzgerald. Matt ran the agency for a decade before selling. He then served as CEO of the publicly-traded Change Technology Partners, leading the company through 12 acquisitions. Due to his success in fostering and navigating this period of intense growth, he became EVP/Partner at Roth Associates, where he conducted advertising and media agency searches for leading advertisers such as Jaguar, Toyota, and Shell. Matt is a graduate of Syracuse University, where he received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Newspaper Journalism. 

I am a successful entrepreneur specializing in marketing agency supplier management. My work falls into four buckets: agency search; agency relationship management; compensation consulting; and process re-engineering. My approach to business has been profoundly shaped by 15 years in advertising agencies where I worked on a series of clients whose industries were in the throes of deregulation – airlines, healthcare, telecommunications, banking, and energy. Working in uncharted territory and creating solutions to never-seen-before problems has become a defining characteristic of my career. Although best known as a “search consultant”, my greatest professional achievements have been re engineering marketing departments to meet the needs of today’s multichannel environment and optimizing client – agency relationships that appeared destined for divorce. A distinguishing feature of my work is the volume of international projects I have conducted – over 20 in the last decade. I have also been increasingly involved in international media searches having conducted projects representing billions of dollars in the last few years. I am a frequent industry speaker and have appeared with the ANA, 4As, Ad Age and the Mirren Conference in the last 12 months.