NEW YORK, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Christian McMahan, former Chief Marketing Officer of Heineken USA, announced today that he has left the client world to launch Smartfish Group. Effective immediately, Mr. McMahan becomes Managing Partner of Smartfish Group, a merger of two Boston-based marketing agencies: Jackrabbit Design and DotGain Solutions.

“I have always had an incredible passion for the creative process within the marketing function,” said McMahan. “I’ve also been fortunate to have worked with many outstanding and creative individuals within the marketing community. I’m looking forward to bringing those experiences and applying a client perspective to them to help position Smartfish as new alternative for brands looking to transform their business.”

Smartfish will retain their two Massachusetts locations and will also add a third office in the NYC region where Mr. McMahan will be based

The formation of the new agency was decades in the making, gaining its roots in the dorms of the University of Massachusetts Amherst which McMahan attended along with DotGain Solutions founders Jim Coveno and David Matthy.

“It is extremely rare when you can get a small group of individuals who are so completely aligned in the collective vision of where we want to be as an organization and who also share the same core values,” said Dave Belyea, founder of Jackrabbit Design who will serve as Creative Director at Smartfish Group. “Over the years we have worked together as client and agency. It is an amazing evolution now to do it together as an agency team.”

“Having such an intimate understanding of the issues clients face is a very compelling proposition for us,” added McMahan. This expertise is what led Karyne Bazzano, President of Preston H2O to name Smartfish the US agency of record for their flagship brand, Llanllyr Source Water. “When I heard about Christian and Smartfish, I immediately contacted him to discuss the chance for us to work together,” said Ms. Bazzano. “It is such a unique situation to have someone with so much client experience be in a position to support us as our agency in all our US marketing efforts.”

About Smartfish Group

Smartfish Group is a full service marketing agency that brings together transformational thinking, brilliant creative and flawless execution. The company is spearheaded by an experienced team of marketing and creative leaders who are relentlessly committed to delivering great results for our clients. Smartfish Group is an independent and privately held US corporation with offices in the Boston and New York Metropolitan areas. For further information, please visit us at smartfishgroup.com.

Media Contact: Mary Perhach, SwellShark, +1.908.205.3137; mary@swellshark.com

SOURCE Smartfish Group