Russel Wohlwerth

Russel Wohlwerth has been advising marketers for more than 15 years on client-agency relationships. Prior to founding External View, Russel was a founding partner of Ark Advisors. He was also President and co-owner of Select Resources International. External View focuses on the entirety of the client-agency relationship including agency relationship management, compensation consulting, organizational consulting, and agency search.

Russel has led dozens of high-profile search and consulting assignments representing billions of dollars for clients such as Activision Blizzard, Barclays Global Investors, BMW, Charles Schwab, Diamond Foods, DIRECTV, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett Packard, H&R Block, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Nintendo, Oracle, Porsche, SAP, Sony, Taco Bell, Timberland, Visa and Wells Fargo Bank. He has also conducted more than 20 high-profile global reviews.

Russel started his career as a copywriter but discovered that his true calling was in account management. His first job was with McCann Erickson but he spent the majority of his career at DDB where he was a Senior Vice President, Group Account Director.

Russel offers a wealth of knowledge in the areas of agency search, client-agency relationship management, and remuneration. Russel and colleague Gerry Preece launched a series of national workshops with the 4 A’s last year teaching agencies how to work more effectively with client procurement organizations. Russel and Gerry also developed a similar program for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Russel is an active supporter of industry trade associations and in addition to his involvement with the 4A’s and ANA, he also works with the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA).

Russel and his family live in a Los Angeles-area beach community. Russel is an avid cyclist who prefers early morning rides along the Pacific Coast and spending time with his wife and two children. Russel is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Westside Neighborhood School. He holds a B.S. degree in Journalism from Ohio University and is a frequent guest lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.