-By Brian Morrissey

Longtime Razorfish executive Jeff Lanctot is leaving the agency to join Microsoft.
 
Lanctot (pictured) is currently chief strategy officer at Razorfish, a role he's filled since last September. Prior to that, Lanctot served as the agency's top media executive. He spent 10 years at the shop, joining Avenue A in 1999 and staying through aQuantive's acquisition in 2004 of Razorfish and its subsequent acquisition by Microsoft in 2007.
 
At Microsoft, Lanctot will serve as managing director of advertising and publisher solutions. His task will include managing relationship with large advertisers, including the Microsoft partnership with new Razorfish owner Publicis Groupe.
 
Lanctot said that after a decade at the agency, the acquisition gave him an opportunity to think about what he wanted to do next, either at Publicis or another company.
 
"The resources Microsoft has makes them very interesting. It's Microsoft and Google that can make the investments needed to be real players and building a platform and ecosystem for advertisers. The scale is interesting."
 
Lanctot starts at Microsoft next month, but is splitting time between that firm and Razorfish until the New Year.
 
At Microsoft, Lanctot reports to Scott Howe, head of Microsoft's publisher and advertiser solutions group and a former colleague when Howe worked at aQuantive.
 
Razorfish is expected to lose several top executives following its acquisition by Publicis. Lanctot said he's confident the shop will weather the inevitable changes following an acquisition that will see it operate alongside Digitas within Publicis' VivaKi unit.
 
"I think the world of [Vivaki managing director] David Kenny," he said. "I think Razorfish is going to do great."

Nielsen Business Media