billups Strengthens Global Leadership Team to Drive Next Phase of Growth
Ranganathan Somanathan Joins as Chief Global Growth Officer, Jaime Byrdak named CEO, North America
NEW YORK – January 15, 2025 – billups, the leading independent out-of-home (OOH) agency, today announced significant additions to its global leadership team, including the appointment of Ranganathan Somanathan as Chief Global Growth Officer, a newly created position. The strategic appointments build on billups’ momentum as it continues to grow into the largest independent OOH agency in the world.
The expanded leadership team includes the elevation of Jaime Byrdak to CEO, North America, Dave Williams to Global Head of Commercial & Investment, and Tony Stoering to Global Head of Client Development. As well, Ben Milne was recently appointed as CEO, APAC. This strengthened leadership structure positions billups to advance its global expansion strategy through a combination of build, buy, and organic growth initiatives. The team will focus on aligning strategic planning processes to encompass billups’ patented IP and OOH impact measurement; expanding client remits across borders; and driving innovation in attention measurement, sustainability, and accountability. Somanathan is based in Singapore, Byrdak in Chicago, Williams in London, and Stoering in Minneapolis.
“2025 is going to be an incredible year. We will continue to invest in our technology, products, and our people to achieve Ben Billups’ vision of ‘delivering amazing’ and moving the world for our clients,” said David Krupp, Global CEO of billups. “These appointments reflect our commitment to expanding our best-in-class team, furthering our positioning of out-of-home as a key awareness and transaction driver for clients in the digital economy. Our talent, products and technology are critically focused on delivering value, innovation, and verified results for advertisers’ investments in out-of-home.”
“As billups rapidly emerges as the world’s leading independent out-of-home agency, I’m excited to leverage my experience helping marketers, agencies, and media partners optimize their investments in this dynamic channel,” said Ranganathan Somanathan, Chief Global Growth Officer of billups. “The diverse global out-of-home landscape offers tremendous opportunities for innovation and scale, and I look forward to partnering with the billups team to drive meaningful improvements in brand preference and performance for our clients worldwide.”
Somanathan, known as Ranga, brings extensive experience from previous roles as CEO and Advisor at Publicis Media Malaysia and Singapore, and CEO at Omnicom Media Group Malaysia and Singapore. In his new role, he will collaborate across departments including client development, client services, product development, and product marketing to increase client utilization of billups’ services and drive its global market share.
Jaime Byrdak has led OOH media teams for the past 20 years. She has been with billups for six-plus years, most recently in the role of Head of Media. Previously, Byrdak was Managing Director of the central region at Kinetic, WPP. Byrdak has been recognized via several industry awards and she was recently named one of the top women in OOH. In her new role, she will oversee North American operations, client growth and retention, and expansion of services.
Dave Williams joined billups in 2022 to launch commercial operations in EMEA. His strong supply-side relationships quickly helped establish billups’ reputation and standing in new markets. Williams’ expanded role will ensure maximum value is delivered for advertisers globally and that business intelligence, optimized supply-side buying practices, and new and bespoke media opportunities inform billups’ global client service teams.
Tony Stoering’s OOH agency, Heed, was acquired by billups in 2015. Since then he has focused on enterprise clients and expanding their use of billups’ services across global markets. Stoering will be responsible for all business development teams, support their deployment, training, and process compliance, and will mobilize billups’ global resources to meet client requirements.
These appointments come amid remarkable momentum for billups, which has seen 132% gross revenue growth since 2021. The company has significantly expanded its global footprint through strategic acquisitions including Outsight, TAC Media, OOH Labs, Billie Media, and MediaBridge Global, growing its team to more than 300 professionals operating across North America, EMEA, APAC, and Australia/New Zealand.
About billups
billups is an independent global out-of-home (OOH) agency helping advertisers, agencies and OOH media owners strengthen media performance through a patented analytics and measurement platform. With over 20 years of experience and employees spanning 18 countries, our team unites local OOH expertise with global accessibility to actualize international marketing initiatives. We use proprietary and patented AI-powered technology to plan, optimize and report on media effectiveness, making OOH an indispensable part of media plans. Discover how billups shapes the future of OOH at www.billups.com.
