• by Larissa Faw , January 21, 2015

Razorfish has hired two industry veterans who are tasked with driving growth for the agency’s Central region.

Ian Sohn is joining Razorfish as senior vice president of client engagement from Ogilvy & Mather, where he founded Ogilvy’s Midwest social media practice. Christian Barnard jumps from SapientNitro (which Razorfish parent Publicis Groupe is in the process of acquiring) to join Razorfish as group vice president of client engagement.

Sohn will be responsible for driving innovation on behalf of global clients, developing and driving strategic opportunities and managing the internal client engagement teams. He will be based in Razorfish’s Chicago office and will report to Central Region managing director Diane Slater. 

“Ian’s entrepreneurial mind-set, strong track record building successful businesses for global brands and ability to develop world-class marketing talent makes him a natural leader,” said Slater.

Sohn's wealth of experience will serve him well in this new job. During his nearly eight-year tenure with Ogilvy, Sohn worked across all disciplines to develop digital, mobile and social strategy, ideas and executions to support both existing clients and new business development efforts.

Meanwhile, Barnard, based in Austin, will oversee portfolio brands and is tasked with growing revenues of existing accounts and expanding the agency’s client roster. Over the course of his career, Barnard has worked with global brands including AT&T, HP, Whole Foods, Neiman Marcus, JCPenney, Michaels and MD Anderson. He will report to Central Region President Deb Boyda.

“Christian’s passion for design, technology and business strategy will enable him to bring a new element of critical thinking to Razorfish,” noted Boyda. “His experience working at global creative and digital agencies positions Razorfish’s Central Region for rapid growth in 2015.”

“Barnard joins Razorfish from SapientNitro, where he served as vice president. While at the agency, he was responsible for SapientNitro’s business in the South Central region.

According to Sohn and Barnard, they chose to join the agency due to Razorfish’s strengths in developing world-class commerce and customer experiences. Both executives start immediately.