AKQA Creates a Marketing Chief for the Agency Itself

Agencies are famously bad at their own briefs. AKQA has appointed Rosie Milton-Schonemann as global director of marketing and communications, a newly created post aimed squarely at the agency's own brand, reputation and market positioning.

The role would have been a luxury a decade ago. It is close to survival kit now. Consultancies, in-house studios and AI-native production shops are all pitching the same clients, and a network agency that cannot articulate what it stands for gets reduced to a rate card in a procurement spreadsheet.

Naming the job "marketing and communications" rather than "new business" is the signal. It suggests AKQA wants a sustained brand narrative — thought leadership, talent attraction, awards positioning — rather than another pitch-support function reporting into revenue.

Talent is the underrated payoff. The best creative and technology people choose agencies the way consumers choose brands, on story and reputation, and the shops that market themselves properly hire better for less money.

Watch what AKQA says publicly over the next two quarters. A new marketing lead who produces a clearer point of view on AI, craft and product design will have earned the role; one who produces a louder press cadence will not.