MEL announces New Leadership hires

MEL (Messianu/Edelman/Lerma) announced three new leadership hires in Strategy, Creative and Client Services. Omar Quiñones joins MEL as Chief Strategy Officer, Danny Alvarez as Executive Creative Director, and Jennifer Rangel as Head of Client Services. These three new appointments continue solidifying MEL’s integrated marketing communications offering for the U.S. Hispanic market.

In their new roles, Quiñones, Alvarez and Rangel will report into MEL’s President and Chief Creative Officer, Luis Miguel Messianu. “I am so proud to welcome Omar, Danny and Jenn to the MEL family. Collectively, they bring years of experience across industries and sectors and a wealth of marketing and communications skills that continue to differentiate MEL’s competitive advantage as a one-stop shop able to offer clients the best creative, digital and earned media solutions,” said Messianu.

MEL’s new CSO, Omar Quiñones, is also joining the new agency from a prior role as Senior Vice President of Strategy at Edelman where he worked on clients in the tech and food and beverage sectors. Quiñones has a long-standing career leading successful U.S., global, and multicultural strategy, both client side at YETI as well as with several top global advertising agencies like Anomaly and Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. “The Hispanic market is at such an inflection point, not only demographically, but what’s even more exciting, culturally. I am thrilled to join MEL to help our clients find the right path to engage, elevate and contribute to our cultura,” said Quiñones.

Expanding its Creative powerhouse, MEL welcomes Danny Alvarez as ECD. Alvarez comes with an impressive 20+ year creative career at global advertising agencies and most recently focused on quick service restaurants (QSR), telecom, and tech at GUT and DAVID. “Luis Miguel’s creative vision to deliver ideas that impact and represent our communities is what attracted me to MEL. Not only do I get to creatively influence culture with clients, but at MEL, we are evolving the industry toward creative executions that have the potential to leave a mark and that’s powerful,” said Alvarez.

Also joining MEL’s expanded leadership team is Jennifer Rangel as Head of Client Services. Rangel comes with 12 years of experience across global advertising agencies in account management and business development with roles across tech, telecom, and QSR industries. She previously worked with Messianu at alma and spent the last 4 years at GUT. “I am excited for this new chapter in my career and the opportunity to give our clients the undeniable growth that can come from targeting Hispanic consumers in an authentic and meaningful way. Having worked in the past with Luis Miguel Messianu at alma, I am certain of MEL’s success,” said Rangel.

Alvarez and Rangel are based in Miami, while Quiñones is based in Texas. These three new leadership positions expand MEL’s founding leadership team, which already includes Richard Edelman as Chairman, Pedro Lerma as Chief Executive Officer, Luis Miguel Messianu as President and Chief Creative Officer, and Carla Santiago as Chief Operating Officer.