Former Company
Valassis
Former Position
President
Catalina, the market leader in shopper intelligence and personalized digital media, has named Wayne Powers as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Powers will succeed Jerry Sokol Jr., who will serve as a strategic advisor to Catalina to support a seamless leadership transition.
Powers most recently served as President of Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery. He has nearly three decades of experience in media, marketing and global operations, deep knowledge of the marketing and ad-tech ecosystem, and a proven track record of successfully implementing operational improvement programs and delivering financial results.
“I am excited to lead Catalina forward, particularly given the company’s recent progress driving digital innovation in an incredibly competitive, fast-paced environment,” said Powers. “I was drawn to Catalina by its talented team and highly personalized marketing solutions that help retailers and brands maximize their engagement with target consumers. We will continue Catalina’s global focus on transformation through innovation to launch differentiated cross-channel products that meet customers’ evolving needs.”
As president of Valassis, Powers was responsible for strategic development, driving business growth, enhancing the company’s infrastructure and delivering financial results for the multi-billion-dollar revenue business. He realigned the organization to drive efficiency, improve execution, and attract and retain top talent. Prior to joining Valassis in 2015, Powers held executive roles at Gravity4, Parade Media Group, and at Yahoo! in North America. Wayne began his media career at Time Inc., the publishing division of Time Warner, where he served as President of the Time Inc. Media Group. He spent more than 12 years at Time Inc., where he drove innovation and financial growth through cross-platform content and advertising integration and creative collaboration. Powers received a BA in Marketing and Finance from The Ohio State University.
“The Board is thrilled that Wayne is joining the company to build on the momentum Jerry and team have established,” said Gene Davis, Chairman of Catalina’s Board of Directors. “Under Jerry’s leadership, Catalina has strengthened its leadership team, completed a comprehensive financial restructuring that significantly enhanced the company’s financial profile by reducing debt by 85%, and accelerated investments in areas critical to the digital marketing ecosystem, including advanced analytics, personalization and measurement. These innovations are already powering new digital products and solutions for customers, and we are confident Wayne and team will accelerate Catalina’s growth.”
Over the last year, Catalina has forged strategic partnerships with the likes of LiveRamp and Samba TV to further fortify the company’s shopper intelligence and power new ways to help CPG retailers, brands and agencies more precisely target, activate and measure consumer behavior across media channels in near-real time.
“I am immensely proud of what Catalina’s global team has accomplished in a relatively short period of time,” said Sokol. “Today, Catalina is a more meaningful strategic partner to our customers in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and I am confident that Wayne is the right leader to continue advancing the company’s breakthrough data-driven marketing solutions. It will be exciting to support Wayne and the team in an advisory capacity as they lead Catalina’s next phase of innovation and growth.”
