The newly created role is designed to help expand the group's footprint in the U.S. and broaden its range of services. The group also has ambitious expansion plans for the UK and Europe.

Santiago founded M8, a digital marketing agency that attracted clients including General Mills, Sony, Marriott Hotels among others.

M8 was acquired by Dentsu in 2018 and Santiago continued to serve as its CEO, while also assuming the role of chief client officer, Dentsu Creative Americas. He left about a year ago to pursue other interests including setting up an investment company earlier this year called Sangre.

Samy Alliance started its international expansion in 2019 with the acquisition of UK based agency Share Creative, which it placed alongside SamyRoad, the group's founding agency, launched in Madrid in 2013. Since then, Samy Alliance has acquired AnyGivenDay and Nobox, U.S. based creative social agencies, with a blue-chip client base including Netflix, Reebok, Microsoft, Diageo, and The North Face.

Most recently it acquired Kurio, a Finnish social media and creative agency and the social media and performance portfolio of MDS, a digital agency headquartered in Colombia.

The group has 500 staffers in 14 offices worldwide including a U.S. outpost in Miami. Currently, three-quarters of its revenue comes from international markets.