Schoenbeck – COO @ Cartel Group.

The Cartel Group selected advertising veteran Robert J. Schoenbeck at its Chief Operating Officer. This announcement was made by Victoria Varela-Negrete, Chief Executive Officer of the multicultural agency that celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. Schoenbeck assumes general management authority over the agency’s operating units and day-to-day business operations. He will report directly to Varela-Negrete.

“Rob brings a unique skills-set and unmatched strategic perspective, garnered in the trenches of our business,” Negrete said. “The breadth of his packaged goods and retail experience combined with his international and multicultural focus, stellar reputation and staff mentoring talent make him the best candidate to help our agency reach the next level. My partners Jesus Ramirez and Sean Salas agree that Rob will be instrumental in charting the Agency’s course into the future,” she added.

Schoenbeck joins Cartel from LLS Associates in Houston, where he served as Managing Partner for this international marketing firm specializing in strategic positioning and consumer branded products for the technology, communications and entertainment industries.

Prior to his tenure at LLS Associates, he worked at Fogarty Klein Monroe as Senior Vice President, responsible for all CPG Clients including 15 ConAgra brands. In 1998, Schoenbeck moved to BBDO Houston as Senior Vice President, to manage the Texaco account.

Schoenbeck, who grew up in Chicago, started his career in marketing at Sara Lee in 1971 and then joined Barton Brands in 1974. After five years, he was lured over to the Agency side by The Leo Burnett Company, where he spent the next 22 years working with virtually every agency client– from business-to-business to retail-to-consumer goods and services. Among the brands in his portfolio: Nestle, Star-Kist, Marlboro, 7 Up, Oracle, Miller, Dewar’s, 9-Lives, Goodyear, Shell, Cathay Pacific, FIAT, Texaco, Star Mart Convenience Stores, Kellogg’s, Cadbury, Tropicana, Heinz, P&G, Hennessy, Bayer and Alka Seltzer.

He began his advertising career at Leo Burnett USA in 1976, later earning Director of Client Services and MD postings in Europe, the Middle East Asia and Latin America. An avowed internationalist and expert in different cultures, Rob has advanced his career with global assignments in Mexico City, Tokyo, London, Paris and Istanbul.

“I am thrilled by the challenge and honored by the responsibility The Cartel Group has entrusted to me. I look forward in leading the young, talented and enterprising team this agency has assembled into a new decade of success and growth opportunities,” Schoenbeck said.