Verso Advertising, Inc., one of the largest advertising agencies that specialize in the publishing industry, has announced a change in leadership, appointing Martha Otis president effective October 1. Otis is succeeding Denise Berthiaume, who will step down from running the day-to-day operations of the firm to become chairman. Berthiaume remains the owner of the company as well.
In a second change, Michael Kazan, v-p and managing director, will be retiring from Verso after 10 years with the agency.
Otis has been senior v-p of advertising at Hachette Book Group since 1994, managing a 30-person in-house advertising agency. “Martha possesses the perfect match of experience and drive to lead the agency to a whole new phase of growth,” said Berthiaume about the transition. “She has played a critical role in the publishing of such major bestselling authors as James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, David Baldacci, Joshua Ferris, David Sedaris, J.K. Rowling, Tom Wolfe, Donna Tartt, Kate Atkinson, Sebastian Junger, and many others. We are eager for Martha to join the Verso team.
Founded in 1989, Verso Advertising has a current client list of more than 30 trade and academic accounts.
