Closing out 2025, Mile Marker finished the final quarter with significant momentum and potential for even greater achievement in 2026. The agency strengthened its structure and clarified its vision through strategic new hires. Capping off a successful debut year, Mile Marker secured its second award win of 2025 from Modern Healthcare, further solidifying its unique credibility. Finally, a new and expanded headquarters is a result of hard work and client dedication within its first few months, and simultaneously a promise to do even more in the years to come, especially in terms of people and culture.
Powering Up: The Next Phase of Mile Marker’s Expansion
This month, Mie Marker celebrated the addition of two key growth leaders poised to accelerate and scale Mile Marker’s momentum following a breakout first year. Their appointments signal the agency is ready for its next phase of rapid expansion, building on our foundation of performance and accountability.
Neil Smith, EVP of Growth – Neil joins to oversee Mile Marker’s growth strategy and market approach. A seasoned veteran from both holding company and independent environments (Dentsu Media U.S., Crossmedia), Neil has led teams to over 100 wins, including Peloton and Kroger. He brings the precision and discipline needed to scale our model as demand grows.
Emilie Vasu, VP of Business Development – Emilie brings 15+ years of experience leading new business and client growth initiatives at agencies including DigitasLBi and JWT. She will lead opportunity management, pitch development, and cross-functional coordination, helping to create a rigorous, streamlined engine for winning the right kinds of aggressive, thoughtful growth.
As President & CEO Scott Shamberg stated, both Neil and Emilie bring the “firepower to scale that model as demand grows” and are “well versed in changing the wheels while the car is going 90 MPH.”
Award Winning Work in the Healthcare Sector
Mile Marker was selected as a Silver Award Winner in the 2025 Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards, presented by Modern Healthcare and Ad Age. This recognition honors our excellent Precise Targeting campaign for client NeuroStar.
The campaign achieved the Silver Award placement in the Data Driven Campaign category, specifically within the Suppliers/Vendors/Pharmaceutical Companies sub-category. This success underscores the power of integrating human talent and sophisticated data strategy.
As Lauren Smith, VP of Client Solutions, noted: “We didn’t just look at data as numbers to optimize against, but as real human behavior to understand and act on. That mindset allowed us to translate insights into smarter targeting, more intentional media decisions, and meaningful results for NeuroStar!”
Read More About Our Recent Win
Mile Marker’s New York Headquarters Grand Opening
This month, Mile Marker celebrated a tangible milestone in our agency’s rapid expansion: the official opening of our new New York City headquarters. More than just square footage, this new space establishes a premium hub for collaboration, in-person pitches, and the “human” side of Mile Marker’s human-plus-machine operating model. It marks the physical realization of a breakout first year and provides the infrastructure needed to support Mile Marker’s growing team and ambitious client partners.
Looking Ahead
Even as 2026 kicks off with some uncertainty in the media world, Mile Marker is in an incredibly strong position—which is rare for indie agencies, especially ones under a year old! In just 10 months, we pitched 13 opportunities and won nine. That fantastic win rate is all thanks to the team’s commitment to always overdelivering and working with speed and agility. Our 2025 growth was totally intentional and disciplined. Every move, whether it was an internal commitment or a play for a new client, required the team to use every bit of their combined intelligence, planning, and emotional smarts. Mile Marker really showed off a strategy that puts us right up there with the best in the media industry.
As we head into 2026 with expanded leadership and new capabilities, we’re ready to help you hit your milestones. Get in touch with us today to discuss how our growing team can drive results for your brand.
