Starcom promotes Kula to managing partner
Starcom has promoted Claire Kula to managing partner. In her new role, she will be charged with leading strategy across UK clients including Lidl, AXA, Alcon and Novartis. She will also continue to oversee a team of communication planners, as well as the broader team of product and activation specialists to deliver exceptional client understanding, idea generation, and media planning and activation for these accounts. She will also develop accelerator projects to help sustain and win future clients.

She started her career in digital media 15 years ago, joining Publicis Media in 2008 as digital strategy director for P&G, where she was awarded ‘Digital Wonderperson’, the P&G Media client team’s highest honour. She has also held roles within the Publicis Media Content team as senior client services director. During this time, she enhanced and fostered organic growth across key global clients including McCormick, Colart, Citigold and Citi Private Bank. Most recently, she has helped retain and grow Publicis Groupe’s Power of One proposition for AXA.

Supporting other working parents to thrive in this industry is a subject close to Kula’s heart. She is part of a community championing Starcom’s ‘Becoming’ initiative, which helps rebuild confidence for new and returning parents at work.

She said: “I am thrilled to have been appointed to managing partner. I look forward to redefining the way we drive value and new commercial solutions for our clients. Having had two beautiful babies during my time with the company, I think I’m a great example of Starcom supporting and promoting parents into key leadership positions. I certainly have not been held back by having a young family, working a four-day week and I’m very excited for what this year will hold.“

Klimaszewski joins ‘Moment marketing’ firm Aki Technologies
Mobile marketing firm Aki Technologies has appointed Stephanie Klimaszewski as its VP of marketing. In this role, Klimaszewski will grow the marketing team, support new product launches, and collaborate with brand clients to demonstrate how ‘moment marketing’ ultimately wins customer attention and affinity.

Previously, Klimaszewski led marketing at Kiip (now NinthDecimal) and, more recently, served as marketing director for JustAnswer, an expert marketplace that has connected more than 16m people worldwide with doctors, lawyers, and other expert professionals. She also worked for SpinMedia (now Billboard) and Townsquare Media.

“Stephanie is a pioneer in moment marketing and was responsible for much of the early innovation in the space when she led the marketing team at Kiip,” said Aki Technologies CEO and co-founder, Scott Swanson. “She’s a true thought leader that knows how to bridge creativity with technology to help brands capitalize on the opportunity around personalized advertising. We are thrilled to have her energy and expertise at Aki Technologies.”

Klimaszewski joins Aki during a time of growth. The company, which uses artificial intelligence to predict when and how a mobile consumer is most likely to respond to a marketing message, hired its first CRO last year and has plans to hire more than a dozen people this quarter. Aki now has offices in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.

Briggs takes up data strategy role at Quantcast
Audience intelligence and measurement firm Quantcast has appointed Louise Briggs as client partnerships director. Reporting directly into Ben Murphy, Quantcast’s UK managing director, Louise will be responsible for advising and guiding Quantcast UKs clients on data capabilities to develop their digital advertising strategies.

With nearly 18 years of experience working for global ad tech companies, Briggs joins Quantcast from RadiumOne where she led the company’s sales and account management teams.

She said: “At Quantcast we’re conscious of the challenges that marketers and their agency partners are facing in an increasingly complex digital landscape. By working closely with our clients we will continue to develop bespoke insights and marketing solutions that not only deliver performance, but also align with our clients’ desired business outcomes. I am excited to join the team and look forward to working with our partners throughout 2020 and beyond.”

Medialab hires Parker
Independent data marketing firm, Medialab Group, has appointed former Publicis executive Steve Parker to the newly-created position of executive director. He will take a place on the board, into whom he will directly report.
Parker is widely known for his 20 year career within Publicis Groupe rising to co-CEO at Starcom .

Media Group UK, before relocating to Dubai to help create Publicis Media as CEO of Middle East & North Africa. A highly respected leader, he has a track record of new business success, developing digital-based performance marketing units and building strong, transparent media owner partnerships.

MediaLab CEO Marcus Orme said “We are absolutely delighted to have Steve commit to our team, and have thoroughly enjoyed his involvement and contribution over the last few months. Steve has outstanding experience in the data and tech arena and a stellar reputation for driving high levels of valuable growth through trusted relationships, and he will help the Medialab Board to deliver transformative outcomes for organisations we believe in. It is a real statement of our growth, ambition and culture that we can attract someone of Steve’s reputation to our business.”

The appointment comes on the back of significant new business and organic growth for Medialab in 2019, culminating in six key account wins, the most recent of which was the £30m SunLife insurance business.

Jones takes up publisher development role at Telaria
Telaria, the software platform that optimises yield for leading video publishers, has hired William Jones, as head of publisher development, EMEA. 

Jones will work closely with Telaria’s expanding network of premium video publishing partners to help maximize the value of their inventory. With more publisher clients exploring emerging revenue streams and developing sustainable (Connected TV) CTV and streaming businesses in EMEA, Telaria’s addressable advertising solution, Audience Connect, is designed to provide publishers with complete choice and control on a deal-by-deal basis.

As commercial director at Digiday Europe, Jones was responsible for growing revenue across the publisher’s portfolio of display, content and events, building its profile in Europe and managing all commercial EU staff.

He said: “It’s an exciting time to join Telaria, I’m looking forward to combining my skills and experience with Telaria’s innovative technologies and customer-centric ethos, empowering publishers to unlock the value of their premium video inventory across mobile, desktop and CTV.”

Two senior hires for digital ad trade body, IAB UK
IAB UK has hired Elizabeth Lane in the newly-created role of head of research and measurement and Dominic Tillson as head of industry relationships and initiatives.

Lane joins IAB UK from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) where she led research and analysis for media and creative policy. Prior to this she worked at the BBC and Ipsos MORI. In her new role, she will oversee the IAB’s research strategy, including the launch of major insight projects in 2020.

Tillson, who has worked in digital advertising for over 20 years, joins from Inskin Media, where he was most recently director of marketing and insight. His new role will see him work with the IAB’s Steering Groups to shape and deliver member-led projects and increase member involvement with IAB initiatives. Antonio Forte joins Tillson’s team as industry initiative’s executive, having previously worked at Wavemaker.

“It’s great to have Elizabeth and Dom onboard as we start 2020,” said IAB UK CEO, Jon Mew. “Dom’s work in ad tech, not to mention first-hand experience of being an IAB member, makes him uniquely placed to lead our membership initiatives. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s time spent at the DCMS is invaluable when it comes to understanding the political context of our industry and creating research projects that resonate with both policy makers and the media industry.”

Bazaarvoice appoints Nealon to CEO role
Bazaarvoice has appointed Keith Nealon as its CEO. In his new role, Nealon will draw on over 20 years of experience with high-growth technology companies to help take Bazaarvoice into new markets and areas of innovation. Nealon assumed his role as CEO on January 1st, 2020, and is based out of Bazaarvoice’s headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Joe Davis of Marlin Equity Partners has served as CEO since Marlin Equity acquired Bazaarvoice in February 2018; he will transition out of the CEO role and return to his original role as operating executive.

“Keith is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with a strong track record leading successful, client-focused growth,” Davis commented. “His technology and go-to-market experience is the ideal match for the business needs of Bazaarvoice. With expansion into international markets, acquisitions of new solutions, and organic roadmap acceleration over the last two years, Bazaarvoice is positioned for continued growth, and we look forward to Keith driving exponential success for the business and its clients.”

Most recently, Nealon was the Chairman and CEO of financial technology platform Vyze, which was acquired by Mastercard in April 2019. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at both private and public technology companies, including Adaptive Insights, Eloqua, ShoreTel, Conductor, and NaviSite.

The Independent bolsters its US team
The Independent has hired Katie Davies as US Editor and John T Bennett as Washington DC Bureau Chief.

Davies returns to The Independent, where she previously worked on the news desk in London until 2012. She has spent the past seven years at MailOnline in New York, rising to the position of senior editor and helping to grow its digital audience in the US.

Bennett joins from Roll Call, where he has been White House correspondent for four years, having specialised in political analysis and reporting throughout his career.

In a change of role, Richard Hall will be relocated from his position as Middle East Correspondent in Beirut to become a Senior US Correspondent in New York.

“As President Trump moves from impeachment to re-election campaign, and with an unprecedented focus on the climate crisis, the year ahead offers The Independent a golden opportunity to establish a reputation for truly independent, free-thinking journalism within the most dynamic news market of all,” said Christian Broughton, editor of The Independent. “I can’t wait to work with Katie again, give John a broader platform on which to share his outstanding analysis, and provide Richard with a new territory for his endless energy and commitment to finding truly remarkable stories.”

Thorn returns to Tag in strategy role
Tag, a global creative production partner to brands and agencies, has appointed Kevan Thorn to the role of chief strategy officer. Based in London, he will work alongside the company’s regional CEOs, and report to Tag CEO David Kassler.

Thorn spent 10 years as CEO of Hogarth Worldwide and was one of the founding partners of the agency in 2008. Prior to Hogarth, he was managing prtner of Hub+ (now EG+) part of the Omnicom Group, and had previously worked for Tag from 2000–2005.

Tag CEO David Kassler said: “We’re delighted to have Kevan back with Tag. As we step into the new decade we are building the best team in the industry and we’re proud to be attracting such high-calibre talent. Kevan’s deep industry knowledge and expertise will help to expand our Creative Production business helping brands to make marketing more effective and efficient by transforming content production.”

DMA announces board level changes
Stephen Maher, CEO of MBA, has been named as the new chair of the DMA Board, with VerveIQ founder & MD Pipa Unsworth named as deputy chair. The pair are also joined by two newly-elected additions to the DMA Board in Cordell Burke, creative managing partner at Up There, Everywhere, and Firas Khnaisser, head of decisioning at Standard Life.

As his tenure begins, Maher said: “I am so delighted to be taking up this new role at such a vital time for the DMA and our 1,000 members who represent the UK’s leading brands and their marketing services partners. We will look to further extend and raise the profile of our industry expertise and training around data ethics and martech, as well as foster even greater industry diversity and inclusion from the classroom to the boardroom.”

Pipa Unsworth, new deputy chair of the DMA Board said: “Though technologies like AI and data-driven marketing are prominent trends in our industry, our members are equally focused on people – building diverse teams and flexible, inclusive environments that enable the kind of creativity and innovation that delights us all as consumers. The DMA provides leadership and support across all these areas and it’s a privilege to help lead the agenda forward as we enter a new decade.”

Maher and Unsworth succeed Mark Runacus, co-founder and planning partner at Wax/On, and Caroline Worboys, COO at Outra, who took up their posts in 2017 and helped steer the DMA through a significant period of change for the association and the industry it represents. This has included helping the data and marketing industry through the biggest legislative change in a generation, with the General Data Protection Regulation that came into force in May 2018.

Both Runacus and Worboys have also supported the DMA team through its rebrand in 2019 that saw it become the Data & Marketing Association, including the Institute of Data & Marketing and DMA Talent.

Burke and Khnaisser have both been elected to three-year terms on the DMA Board. They will be filling the positions left by Gavin Wheeler, CEO at WDMP, and Michelle de Souza, chief data officer at Age UK.

Bounteous goes for experience
Chicago-based digital agency Bounteous has hired Marc Blanchard as its first chief experience officer. The move marks the agencys latest strategic move in recent months, as it continues to win clients and add to its leadership team in response to growth.

Blanchard is responsible for leading Bounteous’ Experience Design practice and joins SVP of experience design, Amanda Ruzin, to set the strategy for the XD practice, one of Bounteous’ fastest-growing practices.

“Marc is a savvy designer, strategist, and thought leader, and we’re elated to have him join our team at Bounteous,” said Keith Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of Bounteous. “Our design practice competes with the very best firms in the world, and Marc will continue the efforts of shaping those offerings and momentum.

“In partnership with Amanda, and the rest of our leadership team, Marc will sharpen our experience strategy; help develop creative engagements that drive value for our clients; and excite, challenge, and deepen our teams.”

Blanchard is a creative lead and experience designer with a 20-year track record of crafting digital brand experiences for global brands such as IBM, Intel, Charles Schwab, and Nike. Previously Global head of experience design at Havas, Blanchard is a recognized thought leader in using data and AI to power experiences, and has been a guest lecturer and adjunct professor at both NYU and Columbia.

Blanchard cites a transformative shift in marketing and heavier engagement than ever before in brand experiences from apps to online to retail. Marketing has grown beyond storytelling to create valuable experiences that people need at every stage of their customer journey, and in response, organizations are evolving their talent, type of work output, and types of engagements with clients.

“Marketing is evolving from making people want things to making things people want,” he said. “To own the conversation, our clients need different processes, different types of research, different ways of working. Its important today to have people in place who understand user experience, who are highly valued in the organization, and who use deep user research that empathizes with people to organize their work.”

Saskin takes up CX role at Selligent
Omnichannel marketing and experience cloud platform Selligent has hired Matthew Saskin as vice president of customer experience. Saskin will help drive Selligent’s growing CX business, working with its channel and technology partner community to enable businesses to deliver powerful end-to-end customer experiences.

Saskin brings more than 15 years of CX and digital strategy experience to Selligent, most recently serving as VP and general manager of Dimension Data’s Customer Experience practice for the Americas. While there, he defined and executed against a multi-year growth plan, which led to substantial growth in professional, managed, and cloud services bookings.

Prior to his role at Dimension Data, he was global practice director at managed services provider, IPsoft, where he spearheaded its unified communications and contact centre managed services practice, growing revenues from $0 to $20M ARR within two years.

He said: “I’ve always had a passion for using technology to deliver transformational business outcomes. I am very excited to join Selligent to usher in the next wave of experience-driven solutions. For years, organizations have struggled to break down silos across channels and functions to deliver end-to-end experiences – until now. I look forward to working with the Selligent team to drive change across the industry with their game-changing platform, and witness its growing impact in helping organizations deliver high-quality experiences.”

Pierce promotes Kelley to MD role
Pierce Global, an experiential agency within Omnicom Experiential Group, has promoted Mike Kelley to managing director. In this role, Kelley will lead Pierces vision, as well as the agencys strategic service offering.

Kelley, formerly of Gatorade (PepsiCo), was previously acting as the agencys executive vice president, heading up Pierce Client Engagement and Strategy teams. During his 20-year tenure at Pierce, he has also led teams on both the operations and client engagement side of the business, responsible for integrated experiential programming for top companies and brands including CitiBank, Diageo, Heineken USA, Kraft, Lidl USA, Post Foods and Unilever.

“I am thrilled to be asked to lead the agency,” said Kelley. “We have a team poised for growth, and the industry is in the most dynamic phase its ever been – the value, impact and influence of brand experience has never been greater”.

Two senior hires for DivvyCloud
DivvyCloud, which provides security and compliance automation for cloud and container environments, has appointed Brandie Kalinowski as vice president of people and culture and David Geevaratne as vice president of North American sales.

Kalinowski will focus on recruiting, engaging, developing, and retaining a highly skilled and motivated workforce. Previously, she was the head of people operations at Etsy, where she and her team were dedicated to aligning the company’s People Programs and processes with dynamic business and growth strategies by focusing on information systems and analytics, business partnership and customer service, and total rewards.

Geevaratne will oversee the enterprise sales strategy to promote growth and customer satisfaction. He brings 20 years of sales and marketing experience in cloud and technology solutions. He most recently served as general manager and market leader for SoftwareONE, in Switzerland, and was an integral member of the North American leadership team.

“We are thrilled to have Brandie and David onboard,” said Brian Johnson, DivvyCloud CEO and co-founder. “Our team grew by more than 110 per cent in 2019, and we plan to double it in 2020. Brandie’s expertise will help us proactively align the people team strategy with the company roadmap. Davids sales leadership and his strong background in building top performing sales teams will help DivvyCloud achieve its growth goals.”

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SAP names Morgan and Klein as co-bosses
Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein have been appointed co-chief executive officers at SAP, following Bill McDermott’s decision to step down from his position as CEO.

Morgan, who joined SAP in 2004, most recently served as president of the Cloud Business Group, overseeing Qualtrics, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur. She was named an executive board member in 2017.

“I could not be more grateful to Hasso Plattner and the supervisory board for placing their trust in me and Christian to lead this next chapter for SAP,” said Morgan. “We accept the challenge with a high degree of humility, but also with a sincere belief that the best is yet to come for SAP. We have the finest, most talented colleagues in the world who give us so much confidence in the road ahead. Bill McDermott has been not only a tremendous leader, but a mentor and a role model for so many of us. In Bill, we stand on the shoulders of a giant and look forward to building on his legacy of success.”

Klein, who started his career at SAP two decades ago as a student, most recently served as the company’s chief operating officer, also overseeing product development for the flagship ERP solution SAP S/4HANA. Previously, he worked as SAP SuccessFactors chief financial officer and as SAP chief controlling officer. Klein was appointed to the executive board in 2018.

“As someone who began my career in the halls of SAP, this is the highest honour I can imagine to become co-CEO together with Jennifer. Hasso Plattner has given us a tremendous opportunity and we are truly thankful to him and the supervisory board,” said Klein. “SAP has the most comprehensive solution portfolio in the industry. We have an unprecedented opportunity to finish what we started and deliver the intelligent enterprise. This will be the best way to honor our predecessor, Bill McDermott. We will always strive to be leaders who bring out the best in people like Bill has always done.”

McDermott will remain in an advisory capacity until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

Tessier takes brand lead at MoPub
MoPub, a Twitter-owned mobile exchange, has hired Vincent Tessier as its brand and agency lead EMEA. He brings more than 12 years of experience into his new position from a variety of roles at Universal Music, AOL, Trademob and LaPlaceMedia.

Most recently, Tessier was the general manager EMEA at Adsquare, where he has successfully scaled and transformed the startup into a European market leader in the audience and footfall measurement category, across nine markets and four local offices.

“I am incredibly excited to be joining MoPub at Twitter and look forward to working closely with our brand and agency partners,” said Tessier. “Mobile has been ubiquitous in our lives for some years but only now is its true potential as a media channel being unlocked. I look forward working closely with our brand partners to help them reach their customers programmatically via MoPub, offering access to 45,000 apps and 1.45bn mobile devices globally.”

Leo Burnett selects Avener as MD
Carly Avener has joined Leo Burnett London as managing director. Reporting to chief executive officer Charlie Rudd, she will be in care of the day-to-day running and operations of the agency, working with existing clients including Iceland, McDonald’s, Betfair, and Gulf Oil.

Before joining Leo Burnett London, Avener was at BBH, where she launched and ran the agencys social media specialism and brand experience output working with clients such as Next, Burberry, Mentos, Burger King and Samsung. In 2018, she led Burger King’s brand repositioning and relaunched The Whopper. She also developed the AR immersive experience called Doorways for Samsung in partnership with Family Guy.

Prior to BBH, she worked at McCann Erickson on the Microsoft, American Airlines, and Co-op accounts.

“It’s a really exciting time to be at Leo Burnett right now and I’ve seen the agency go from strength to strength. Their iconic work is famous across the UK and I can’t wait to get started,” commented Avener.

Gold promoted to director of social at Grey
Grey, the advertising network of WPP-owned Grey Group, has elevated Kenny Gold to senior vice president, director of social media for Grey North America. Working with Grey offices in Los Angeles, Toronto, and Montreal, he will build the agencys talent and capabilities, enhance partnerships with social platforms, and ensure social is an integral part of new business development.

Gold has served as SVP, director of social media for Grey New York for the past 15 months. During his tenure, Gold has played an integral role operationally, strategically and creatively developing content and the innovative use of social media for the agency and its clients. Grey New York has doubled its social media team under his leadership.

Dan Bennett, worldwide chief innovation officer at Grey Group, said: “Kenny Gold has brought energy and vision to placing social at the heart of our creative and strategic approach to brand building. Hes expanded the horizons of how we create Famously Effective work that resonates in popular culture.”

Telaria adds Antoniou to direct on publisher accounts
Jenny Antoniou has taken the role of publisher account director, ad operations at video management platform Telaria. Reporting to vice president EMEA Bill Swanson, and based out of Telaria’s London office, she is responsible for the growth of Telaria’s EMEA publisher and broadcaster business.

Antoniou was previously head of campaign management at Dennis Publishing. She led teams through large-scale change covering all aspects of digital media operations, programmatic, content-led partnerships and B2B lead generation. As co-chair of the AOP’s Ad Ops Steering Group, Antoniou has also led and rolled out industry-wide publisher initiatives.

“Telaria has built a leading position in connected TV and premium video globally across the US and APAC regions,” said Antoniou. “As the video advertising landscape evolves and grows at a rapid pace in EMEA, I’m excited to build on thebe part of the company’s success journey by leveraging its technology to unlock more programmatic video opportunities for publishers and brands in EMEA.”

Blakeway to lead programmatic at Journey Further
Performance marketing agency Journey Further has handed Ed Blakeway the role of head of programmatic & paid social at the company’s new Manchester office, which he will head up. He has joined to enhance the agency’s display and social offerings as clients demand greater transparency, stronger creative direction, and an integrated approach across paid and organic activity.

Blakeway was previously associate director at iProspect and, before that, head of programmatic at Search Laboratory.

“I am really excited to be joining the Journey Further team and establishing the agency in Manchester,” said Blakeway. “It is rare to find an agency that has such a strong proposition – Clarity at Speed – and a set of values that has created a unique and empowering culture. I will be working closely with Robin and the team to deliver for our clients and foster that culture in Manchester.”

Tealium welcomes Bullock to lead marketing
Heidi Bullock has joined Tealium, a customer data orchestration firm, as chief marketing officer, arriving from the same role at Engagio.

At Engagio, Bullock was responsible for the go-to-market strategy, product marketing, internal sales, corporate communications, and helping create the ABM automation category. Before that, she was group vice president of global marketing at Marketo, where she built out the award-winning demand generation function globally that helped lead to a successful IPO and, later, an acquisition.

“As a marketer, it is my job to provide customers with meaningful experiences and that requires leveraging the right types of data, responsibly, when it matters most. Tealium is appealing because it solves this issue regardless of the type of data or source,” said Bullock. “Im proud to be joining an innovative team that pioneered the customer data solution space. For me, the most important part of being a leader is to support, grow, energize and connect all of our team members – as well as the customers we serve.”

Balekjian and Cura join Badi senior team
Badi, an AI-driven room rental marketplace, has hired Glenda Balekjian as vice president of product and Ezequiel Cura as vice president of engineering.

Balekjian leaves her leadership role within Booking.com’s core marketplace product development team, which saw her lead data science based initiatives to match guests with the right accommodation, post booking automation services, and refining messaging based solutions which connected customer service, hosts and travellers across 42 languages. She will now use her experience to further Badi’s strategic drive to improve its user-centred product offering. 

“I’m looking forward to leading our product efforts at Badi, a young fast-growing organisation with huge potential,” commented Balekjian. “I’m inspired by Badi’s vision to create solutions that make our world better through the power of technology. Making space in a crowded world resonates as one of the biggest problems to solve for future generations. It’s about sustainability and quality of life.”

Cura joins from Google where he worked in Photos, Research, Google Pay, and SumUX.

“I have always been a product and goal driven engineer. I had the luck to lead a wide number of projects for Google that helped to hone the skill set I will bring to Badi,” said Cura. “I enjoy closely collaborating with cross-functional teams and I’m looking forward to continuing Badis efforts to help everyone live everywhere, now in an international setting.”

Mapp opts for Alberti to lead global sales
Maurizio Alberti has been promoted to the role of vice president of global sales at cloud-based digital marketing provider Mapp. He will oversee the development of Mapps annual sales plan and define the corresponding sales policies and practices. In addition, Alberti will lead the company’s global direct and channel sales strategies and expand the international sales team, providing optimal operational support for Mapps overall business objectives.

Alberti boasts more than 15 years of digital marketing industry experience, starting his career as an account manager at eCircle before being appointed managing director for Italy in 2010. From 2013, he held the position of managing director for Italy at Teradata, where his responsibilities included launching the integrated marketing applications solution in Italy. Teradata would then evolve into Mapp in 2016.

“Following my role as Managing Director Europe, I am delighted to now apply my knowledge to Mapps global business,” said Alberti. “As our company continues to grow, consistent, effective sales operations are essential to further expand our customer base and achieve our defined business objectives. We still have a great deal of potential in cross-channel marketing.”

Lewis to head up finance at Clicky
Digital marketing agency Clicky has appointed Jane Lewis as head of finance, bringing her wealth of corporate experience to the growing agency.

Lewis joins from a vice president role at ConvaTec Group, where she was instrumental in floating the $1.7bn business on the London Stock Exchange in 2016.

“I was impressed with both the energy at the office and the ethical values at Clicky that stem from the leadership,” commented Lewis. “I have the opportunity to help this dynamic company grow and flourish, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the journey takes us.”

Vungle promotes Bondy to COO
Jeremy Bondy has been handed the newly created role of chief operating officer at Vungle, a performance marketing platform for in-app video ads on mobile devices. The promotion coincides with Blackstone’s completed acquisition of the company.

Bondy, who has been at Vungle since 2014, will continue to oversee global revenue and Vungle Creative Labs, while ensuring operational excellence across the business.

“Jeremy is a seasoned and trusted leader who consistently delivers results,” said Vungle chief executive officer Rick Tallman. “Jeremy’s sales and operational leadership have been instrumental to our rapid, profitable growth over the past five years. I look forward to working closely with him in his new role as we continue to expand our company and better serve our customers.”

Wray and Graham take places on Tonik+ executive team
Tonik+, a video intelligence and editing solution, has named Lauren Wray as chief revenue officer and Chris Graham as chief product officer and general manager.

Wray will oversee key sales and marketing initiatives for company including strategy development, account management, pricing, forecasting, resource planning and budgeting. Prior to joining Tonik+, she led media and content domain sales, growth and strategy at Kantar. Before that, she directed the national sales team and played an essential role in the extensive growth of the business at Sharethrough. She started her career at Forbes Media.

“Lauren is a seasoned leader who brings a wealth of experience in sales and customer acquisition,” said Morgan Harris, founder & CEO of Tonik+. “She understands the needs of our business and how to effectively develop successful strategies that generate revenue. We are excited to welcome Lauren and her passion for quickly growing startups to the TONIK+ team.”

Graham will oversee technology, creative, and data science teams at Tonik+. Most recently, he oversaw the development of HYFN8 from concept through launch, monetisation, growth, and exit, creating and managing teams including analytics, ad operations, client services, product management, sales engineering, and marketing. He went on to found Noname Ventures and ZeroBaseOne.

“Chris brings an exceptional knowledge bank of technology, startup and media brand development to the Tonik+ executive team, and has been a consistent catalyst for operational excellence throughout his career,” said Harris. “We’re so thrilled that he chose to join us on our journey of growth, and vertical expansion this year. With the addition of both Lauren and Chris, our top-notch leadership team is stronger than ever.”

Channel Factory makes senior hires across Europe.
Idan Shuklin, Kasper Jensen, Ajay Daved, Mark Butt, and Juliet McCutcheon have all joined YouTube content alignment firm Channel Factory in various capacities across Europe.

Shuklin arrives as business development partner, EU/CEE. Bringing over 20 years of experience across eCommerce, software product and brand development, he was most recently eCommerce director for Europe at Chubb Limited. He will be tasked with creating and launching Channel Factory’s Central and Eastern European operations.

Jensen joins as sales manager for Denmark, bringing 15 years of digital media and management experience. He will be responsible for developing and activating a road map of clients for Channel Factory in the Danish market. Most recently, he was head of sales at Smartclip.

Daved, boasting 16 years of digital experience, will manage strategic partnerships across EMEA. He previously worked for DoubleClick and Google, and has held leadership roles at PowerLinks, Tremor, RhythmOne, and AppNexus.

Butt will work as strategic business development consultant in the UK, having a remit to develop partnerships with key agencies and brands. With more than 20 years’ experience in commercial strategy, mergers & acquisitions, media buying, programmatic technology and ad operations, he was managing director of Eyeconomy before launching Seventures Lab.

Last but by no means least, McCutcheon takes on the role of key accounts manager in the UK. Joining from her role as sales manager at Amobee EMEA, she will be working closely with the UK agencies, driving awareness of Channel Factory’s solution, and developing the UK roadmap.

“We are excited to welcome Ajay, Mark and Juliet to the UK team to further service brands and agencies across the UK,” said Mattias Spetz, EU managing director at Channel Factory. “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Danish office and appointment of Kasper to build the business in Denmark and deliver a truly localised offering. We are also pleased to open our office in Russia and welcome Idan to lead Central and Eastern European operations for Channel Factory.”

Three leadership changes at Starmind
AI SaaS company Starmind has appointed Stefan Gass as chief marketing officer & head of growth and Eric Storm as vice president of sales, Americas, while promoting Adrian Schlund as chief revenue officer.

Gass will lead all marketing, inside sales, customer success and community functions. He will focus on Starmind`s accelerated go to market, product-led growth and global scaling strategies. He brings over two decades of experience leading high-growth teams at venture-backed SaaS companies like Veeam and scaling teams into new markets at BCG, Microsoft and Oracle.

“Starmind is paving the way in defining a new category, which is a natural evolution in the future of work as every large corporation today is going through fundamental shifts in their workforce,” said Gass. “Our neural networks are helping enterprises harness human intelligence to unlock productivity and competitive advantages while facilitating knowledge-sharing and growth. Our customers have a significant opportunity to transform in the way they tap into their most valuable asset – human knowledge – and I am excited to help them realize that.”

Storm will lead Starmind’s expansion into the US market, focused on enterprise businesses. He joins from Citrix, where he was one of the key enterprise US sales leaders.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Stefan and Eric to Starmind,” explained Oliver Muhr, CEO at Starmind. “Each bring unrivalled experience working at both high-growth startups and large-scale enterprises, as well as impressive track records in growing companies and creating new categories in enterprise software.”

Tag brings in Vidler as Europe boss
Andria Vidler has been hired as EMEA chief executive officer by Tag, a creative production and sourcing partner to brands and agencies. Reporting to global CEO David Kassler, she will officially start her new role in January 2020.

Vidler has spent the past six years as CEO of Centaur Media PLC, which she transformed into a business intelligence, data and event group primarily focused on the marketing sector. She was responsible for setting strategy, driving financial performance, overseeing operational improvement and delivering cultural change.

Before Centaur, Vidler spent four years as CEO for EMI Music UK & Ireland and has held senior roles at Magic Radio-Emap, Bauer Media and at the BBC. She is also a trustee for Media Trust and a non-executive for Gamesys PLC.

“Having worked at the heart of the marketing and media sector for over 25 years, I fully understand the appeal of Tag’s compelling proposition as a creative production and strategic sourcing partner,” commented Vidler. “More than ever, brands need trusted, independent partners with capability and scale to help them navigate the complex and ever-changing demand for content across all media channels. This is exactly what Tag is built for and why it is well-positioned for growth. Im excited to continue to drive the success of its business across EMEA.”

Barclay and Wagner arrive at Synup
Synup, an intent marketing cloud, has selected Margie Barclay as senior vice president of client services and Brett Wagner as vice president of enterprise sales.

A 22-year veteran of the technology space, Barclay served as vice president of sales and customer experience at Contently before joining Synup. She also served in senior leadership roles at TapClicks, YP.com and Advance Publications.

“The future of marketing is going to be about giving customers the right information at the right time, based on purchase intent. That’s why I’m so excited to be joining Synup,” Barclay said. “Consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, and the Synup Intent Marketing Cloud is in the perfect position to drive outcomes that truly help our customers’ bottom lines.”

Wagner joins Synup after serving as APAC general manager at Movable Ink, where he helped drive sales. He has also overseen growth at LiveIntent and Bomoda, where he held leadership roles in sales and revenue.

“When scaling a company, I’ve always put the customer at the centre of my efforts. That’s the true key to client retention and growth, and that’s why I’m excited to be joining a like-minded organization like Synup,” Wagner said. “The company’s expansion plans are ambitious, and they’re mapped out in a way that will not only expand the company’s customer base, but also make existing customers happier than ever.”

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Verizon Media recruits Wiles to lead programmatic
Lindsay Wiles has been hired as head of programmatic in the UK by Verizon Media, the digital media arm of telecoms giant Verizon. Starting 1 September, she will be responsible for driving the promotion of Verizon Ad Platform’s DSP and SSP.

Wiles joins from GroupM, where she was most recently director of digital consultants, leading a team to become the ‘connective tissue’ through the agency groups to link its group-developed tech, products and services to maximise opportunities for clients and the group. Before that, she was commercial director for GroupM’s programmatic buying unit, as well as strategic sales director at The Weather Channel.

“Verizon Media is an exciting prospect for both advertisers and publishers,” said Wiles. “Having worked with many different programmatic platforms over the years, its ability to combine unique data insights, exciting creative formats, a truly incredible insights and forecasting tool and analytics to really drive results for customers is what attracted me to the role. I think it’s a really exciting time for Verizon Media in the UK. I can’t wait to work with Anna and the rest of the business to show clients what we can do for them.”

Morris named TuneIn CEO
Audio streaming service TuneIn has appointed Juliette Morris as its chief executive officer. She has been promoted from her role as chief marketing officer, which she has been in since March 2018.

Prior to TuneIn, Morris held executive leadership and marketing positions at HBO, Viacom and, most recently, NBCUniversal, where she served as executive vice president of marketing and communications. In this role, she was responsible for the marketing business strategy with NBCUniversal distribution partners for a multi-billion dollar content portfolio consisting of networks including Bravo, CNBC, E!, Sprout, Syfy, NBCSN, MSNBC, USA, NBC and Telemundo stations, as well as NBC Sports Regional Sports Networks and the Olympics.

“Im thrilled to have this amazing opportunity to lead such a talented group of people who Im in awe of every day,” said Morris. “Its such an exciting time in audio, and with TuneIns market position, capabilities and unique content offering, I am confident that were on the verge of exponential growth.”

Sprout Social adds Walker and Collins to its board
Karen Walker and Steve Collins have been given roles on the board of directors at social media management software firm Sprout Social, joining the existing board members of Jason Kreuziger, Peter Barris, Justyn Howard, and Aaron Rankin.

Walker is chief marketing officer at Cisco, where she has served as a marketing executive for the past 10 years. She sits on the board of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and was named a Top 10 Global CMO by Forbes in 2017 and 2019.

Collins has served as chief financial officer at ExactTarget and NavTeq, as well as holding board positions at Shopify, Mulesoft, Instructure, and others.

“Karen and Steve are remarkable executives and were thrilled to add them to the Sprout team,” said Howard, Sprout Social CEO. “Their experience and expertise will further our ability to provide world-class solutions for our customers as they navigate the transformation of the customer experience to social channels.”

Salinas becomes CMO at Engine
Engine, a marketing solutions and technology company, has promoted Zihla Salinas to the position of global chief marketing officer. She joined the company 18 months ago and currently serves as its US Agency chief executive officer. She will carry both titles moving forward.

Under Salinas’ leadership, Engine has been in the process of consolidating its strategy, content and media capabilities into a single offering, known as Engine Agency. Before joining Engine, she was executive vice president & managing director at DonerLa, where she developed and oversaw operations, and played an integral part in bringing the companys vision to life from the ground up. She has also previously held executive positions at MDC Partners, Meredith, and RAPP.

“I have no doubt that Zihla will jump in and tackle new assignments with the tenacity and creativity she has applied to every other challenge,” said Engines global CEO Kasha Cacy. “She is the rare marketer who is able to understand what each partner needs and she has the determination to make magic happen.

“Having Zihla take on the additional role of global CMO just makes sense. It is an extension of the work that she already does driving the Engine brand through our agency offering.”

Tag brings in Hill as director
Nancy Hill has been named as non-executive director at Tag, a creative production and sourcing partner to brands and agencies.

Hill boasts more than 30 years of industry experience and has worked with companies including Cisco Systems, Motorola, AOL, and SiriusXM. She founded Media Sherpas, where she focused on the organisational and strategic issues that advertising agencies and their marketing partners face. Prior to that, she was president and CEO of the 4A’s, driving the association’s transformation to provide leadership, advocacy and guidance to the advertising community on issues such as patent trolling and online privacy.

“There is a high demand by both clients and agencies for new models and new ways of working that make all parts of the creative process both more effective and more efficient,” said Hill. “Tag has proven to be a very flexible partner in the ecosystem that can deliver on efficiency without compromising quality. I look forward to working with David and the rest of the board to help Tag deliver on these promises for all of its clients.”

Barr appointed COO at OneLogin
OneLogin, a unified access management company, has hired Rick Barr as its first-ever chief operating officer. He will lead technical support, services, training, alliances, IT, pricing, and packaging.

Barr has held executive roles at companies like Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Juniper, DocuSign and, most recently, Snowflake Computing, where he built and managed teams focused on customer success, technical support, and professional services, among others.

“OneLogin is experiencing amazing growth across its channel, customer and employee base, as well as continued geographic expansion,” said Barr, “I look forward to facilitating sales enablement and support as we move upstream to larger enterprise organizations and to provide critical support for OneLogin customers in this exciting next stage for the company.”

Kubient hires Bordes and Andrews
Peter Bordes and Chris Andrews have been appointed as chief executive officer and chief digital officer, respectively, at programmatic audience advertising platform Kubient.

Bordes, most recently, founded and held the role of CEO at oneQube, where he currently serves as chairman. He also serves as chairman for MainBlog, TruVest, and is a member of the board of directors at Beasley Media, Fraud.net, and OCEARCH.

“Having worked in this industry for decades, there has never been a better market opportunity for Kubient’s disruptive innovation, and its first-of-its-kind technology,” said Bordes. “We have heard from advertisers that their top two priorities are eliminating fraud and creating real connections with the right audiences. Kubient solves both of these problems, with a programmatic solution that has real-time artificial intelligence built into the platform that prevents, rather than identifies ad fraud. The technology also features an audience engine that allows advertisers to optimise their reach, and media channel partners to realise the value of their audiences.” 

Andrews arrives on the back of more than 20 years of technology and business leadership experience. In addition to his role as chief digital officer, he will be tasked with commercialising the company’s RTB digital out-of-home platform channel. He was previously an executive at Ogilvy for 12 years, most recently serving as chief technology officer for Oglivy Health and the business partner for the WPP Health & Wellness Group of agencies. Before that, he held leadership positions at Sony Electronics and Harper Collins.

“For years, my career has been dedicated to integrating technology, media, and data to help drive profitable growth and position companies for long-term success,” said Andrews. “While the DOOH space has continued to grow, the distribution channel is lacking true programmatic real-time bidding for marketers. I look forward to collaborating with the forward-thinking team here at Kubient as we work to deliver this disruptive audience platform to the market.”

Zeisser takes seat on board at OfferUp
US mobile marketplace OfferUp has added Michael Zeisser, the former chairman of US investments for the Alibaba Group and leader of Alibaba’s strategic investments out of Asia, to its board of directors.

Zeisser opened and led Alibabas corporate office in Silicon Valley and built an international investment organisation whose strategic investments included leading disruptive companies such as Lyft, Snapchat, Magic Leap, 1stDibs, Jet, Amblin Entertainment, and Zulily. He recently chaired the board of the XO Group and serves on the boards of Shutterfly and Dash Radio. He was a director on the pre-IPO boards of TripAdvisor and CommerceHub, served as a board director of IAC, Time Inc., QVC, OpenTV, Lyft, Magic Leap, and as board chairman of Game Show Network.

“Very few consumer companies can build an ecosystem that includes millions of buyers, sellers, and service providers, but those that do are able to change consumer behaviour and transform lives,” said Zeisser. “Throughout my career, Ive had the privilege to help the worlds biggest marketplaces grow from great ideas with dedicated communities to household names that are primary destinations for hundreds of millions of customers. Im joining the board of OfferUp because I believe their marketplace has enormous potential to reshape local commerce in the US.”

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Reinke takes up board post at Postmates
On-demand delivery firm Postmates has appointed Kristin Reinke, vice president of finance at Google, to its board of directors as an independent director.

Reinke has been part of Google’s finance leadership team since 2005, leading initiatives across Googles finance and business organisations to scale its product portfolios. Prior to joining Google, Kristin was at Oracle Corporation, where she ran global nusiness practices for its alliances & Channels. She started her career at Arthur Andersen.

She currently also serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Franciscos Economic Advisory Council.

“Postmates has established itself as the market leader with a focus on innovation and route efficiency in the fast-growing on-demand delivery sector,” said Reinke. “Given their strong execution, accelerating growth, and financial discipline, they are well positioned for continued market growth across the US. Im thrilled to join the board.”

Apple promotes Khan to its executive team
Sabih Khan has been named as senior vice president of operations at Apple. In his new role, he will be in charge of Apple’s global supply chain, ensuring product quality and overseeing planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and product fulfilment functions, as well as Apple’s supplier responsibility programs that protect and educate workers at production facilities around the world.

Khan, who has been at Apple for 24 years, has played an important role in delivering each of Apple’s innovative products to market since joining the company, leading key product operations and supply chain functions. He will continue to report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.

“I’ve been privileged to work with Sabih for more than 20 years, and you won’t find a more talented operations executive anywhere on the planet,” said Williams. “He is a world-class leader and collaborator, and I have no doubt that he will be the best leader of the ops team in Apple’s history.”

Thomas named WACL president
Women in Advertising and Communications, London (WACL) has handed the role of president to Lisa Thomas, chief brand officer for the Virgin Group.

Thomas joined Virgin in 2016 from M&C Saatchi Group, where she served as UK CEO. At Virgin, she is responsible for overseeing the global brand and managing relationships with more than 70 Virgin businesses in over 35 countries. She is also managing director of Virgin Enterprises Limited, and sits on the boards of Virgin StartUp and Virgin Group Loyalty Company.

“At a time when the world and industry are becoming more receptive to the fact that the dial needs to move on gender balance, I’m delighted to take on the presidency of WACL,” said Thomas. “The organisation is at a fascinating point in its history, transitioning from being a networking body into a purpose-led, campaigning organisation, hungry for change. Working with such a ground-breaking and talented group of women, we will be in a pivotal position to influence representation norms and shift attitudes and perceptions for the future.”

Ad Council places Fischer at the top of the board
David Fischer, chief revenue officer at Facebook, has been appointed chair of the Ad Council’s board of directors, succeeding Linda Boff, chief marketing officer at GE. As chair, he will work in collaboration with the executive committee, the governing body of the Ad Councils board, and Ad Council leadership to further the organisations mission to use the power of communications to address more than 30 critical social issues, while managing and advising on business affairs.

Fischer, who will serve as chair for one year, joined the Ad Council board in 2011 and became a member of the executive committee in 2012. Prior to his appointment as board chair, Fischer served as vice chair.

During his nearly 10-year tenure at Facebook, Fischer has spearheaded the companys advertising business while managing its sales and marketing teams worldwide.

“Im deeply committed to the Ad Councils mission to create ongoing dialogue and action around key issues to drive societal change,” said Fischer. “Its an honour to lead this incredible organisation and have the opportunity to help advance progress on these important topics.”

Hall joins Ocean UK leadership team as part of restrucure
Ocean Outdoor, a digital out-of-home media owner, has hired Phil Hall as co-managing director UK. He will work alongside newly promoted co-managing director Steve George, who is currently chief development officer.

Hall, leaves MediaCom after 18 years, will oversee Ocean’s UK commercial operations. George will take charge of the franchise and development functions in the UK.

“I’ve had a fantastic time at MediaCom, working alongside some brilliant colleagues to build a world-class business. My roles have been varied and fulfilling and I’ll miss the work and the people,” said Hall. “I’ve always considered digital out-of-home to be a medium of huge interest and benefit to clients, with even greater potential, particularly with the rapid advancements in technology. I’ve long admired the product and especially the team at Ocean and the chance to play a significant part in their continued growth is an opportunity I can’t resist. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and to help Ocean build on their impressive success to date.”

Hall and George will be joined on the UK operations group board by chief revenue officers James Harrison and Nick Shaw; Catherine Morgan, director of Ocean’s rapidly expanding creative technology and innovation division Ocean Labs; Joseph Arshed, who becomes chief asset and contracts officer; Marc Keenan, managing director of Ocean Scotland; newly promoted head of UK finance Kapil Kansara; Angela Green, head of commercial systems; head of UK marketing and events Helen Haines; and technical operations director John Kilfeather.

SharpEnd looks to Hollands as MD
Rob Hollands has joined connected experience specialist SharpEnd as its first manging director. Reporting to founder and CEO Cameron Worth, he will take responsibility for the day-to-day running and management of the business, as well as leading the agency’s planned expansion to fuel its next phase of growth.

Hollands joins SharpEnd from Anthem, where he was UK managing director, leading its transformation from a traditional brand design and packaging business into a connected content agency. Prior to that he co-founded – and sold – digital agency Untitled.

“SharpEnd absolutely understands the world as a connected ecosystem and the enormous potential that this presents for brand building,” said Hollands. “I have followed SharpEnd as it has delivered ground-breaking activations and connected experiences for leading global brands; I look forward to supporting the agency’s growth as it helps clients across the board incorporate tech as a core part of their marketing strategy.”

Abrams joins EMEA leadership at Tag
Tag, a creative production and sourcing partner to brands and agencies which is part of Williams Lea Tag, has appointed Alex Abrams as head of business development for its EMEA business. Reporting to chief commercial officer Keith Wilson, he joins the business as part of a dedicated and refocused leadership team, following the relaunch of its marketing services brand in April.

Abrams arrives with 20 years’ experience, having held senior leadership positions at Schawk, Hogarth, and Peach. In his previous roles, he has led global sales teams and delivered solutions to multinational businesses such as Dell, Disney, Fox, HP, P&G, Paramount and Unilever.

“Tag is the only business with the breadth of capability and scale to help global clients navigate their insatiable demand for content across all channels,” said Abrams. “I’m excited to be joining a great team, as we help the industry meet these challenges.”

SBDS brings in Ghuman
Sandy Ghuman has joined data tech services business SBDS Group as senior vice president of data strategy. She will be leading SBDS Group’s data strategy, helping clients unlock the full suite of products and services offered by the new group.

Ghuman has held roles at companies including Yell, Experian, and Sky, where she drove digital and social targeting capabilities and the integration and product roadmap of various ad tech & martech solutions.

The SBDS Group was formed thanks to the merging of SBDS Global and Iotec Global. The co-founding group will be led by chief executive officer Ian James. He will be joined on the executive team by Ghuman, chief strategy officer Umberto Torrielli, and senior vice president of partnerships Simon Theakston.

Nine join Impact’s EMEA team
Impact, a partnership automation firm, has hired nine members of staff across its customer success management, business development, partnerships, enterprise sales, and HR departments within the EMEA market.

Smita Pillai joins as customer success manager for Impact’s Radius, having worked in senior agency side roles in Australia and the UK at firms including Wunderman, M&C Saatchi, Lida, and Digitas LBi. Four others have also been hired to the customer success management team with Chaya Jethwha arriving to work on Impact’s Altitude, having previously had a role in data partnerships & marketing EMEA at Tapad; Yumi Lewis joins Impact’s Forensiq from Expedia; Sanchit Sareen has been hired to Impact’s Mediarails from his previous role as customer success director at Idio; and Richard McLean takes up a role at Radius from Rakuten Marketing.

Sophie Clark, Nick Mennozi, and Mundir Zeroug has all joined as business development representatives, bringing experience from places like Adobe, Salesforce, LogMeIn, and Tradition Financial Services. Their roles will involve prospecting potential new clients and researching high priority companies to generate business across the Radius, Altitude and Forensiq products.

Finally, Anna Jozefowska joins as office administrator from JLL.

“The Impact UK office has seen significant growth and we continue to be committed to servicing brands in the UK with an experienced and talented team,” said Florian Gramshammer, managing director EMEA at Impact. “We’re thrilled to welcome them onto a team, bringing extensive skills to effectively manage existing partners and increase clients throughout each part of the business.”

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Social Chain brings in Osborne to lead data and insights
McVal Osborne has been appointed head of data and insights at Social Chain, a social-first marketing agency. He will oversee the data team including the lead data analyst and insights assistant to further establish the research department, while using his expertise to help the team identify the weak spots of clients and provide them with knowledge to address this.

Prior to joining Social Chain, Osborne was working at ORC International in New York City where he carried out market research for major accounts including MTV, Walmart, Kraft, AOL and Bacardi. Preceding this, Osborne worked for a political research and consulting firm in Washington DC after graduating from the University of California.

“Gaining social-first insights has become integral to the decisions that we make and the actions that we take,” said Osborne. “The data captured through social media is forever changing how brands operate, both online and offline. Brands want to understand buying behaviour, customer motivations and consumer perception in their target demographic, which means they need access to the right data, quickly.”

Barash rejoins AdColony
Mobile performance marketplace AdColony has re-hired Matt Barash as head of strategy and business development. Alongside this, the company has promoted Camila Franklin to VP of programmatic and Tom Simpson to VP of brand & exchange APAC.

Barash, who left AdColony in 2017, returns to the company in a newly-formed role to lead marketplace strategy with a focus on increasing automation and transparency initiatives, delivering client outcomes and developing strategic partnerships to ensure the company’s continued success into 2020 and beyond.

“There’s a lot to look forward to as we continue to capitalise on industry advances in hardware and 5G connectivity to provide unique creative executions, which harness the power of sight, sound and motion to addressable audiences,” said Barash.

Meanwhile, Franklin’s promotion will see her oversee AdColony’s global programmatic product and engineering efforts, reporting to CEO Lars Boilesen. She joined AdColony in 2015 as leader of the client services team.

“We are focused on efficiently and effectively partnering with other automated technologies to create a scalable marketplace and to drive impactful programmatic solutions,” said Franklin. “I take tremendous pride in joining the executive leadership team as we continue to ensure that AdColony provides a best-in-class service.”

Simpson’s new role leave him responsible for driving the overall strategy and direction of the APAC business at AdColony.

“I am excited to lead AdColony’s charge in Asia-Pacific, as the importance of this region grows globally,” said Simpson. “This is an exciting environment for marketing at a global level, and we passionately believe that for brands in our region, mobile apps – especially gaming – are the new (and improved) social media in terms of connecting with consumers. Through my new position, I look forward to collaborating even more closely with our fantastic partners to leverage on this in the years ahead.”

Send Me a Sample hires five
Send Me a Sample, a voice-led sampling and customer data acquisition business, has made five hires across its UK and US offices.

UK hires include James Leung as product manager, Simon McLoughlin as director of operations, and Kate Birtwistle as UK director, while Manuel Fuentes has been hired as general manager in the US alongside Dasha Alekseyeva as client success manager. Both UK and US teams will report to co-founders Richard Hill and Will Glynn-Jones.

“Since our launch in September last year, we’ve delivered successful campaigns for the likes of Coca-Cola, Benefit Cosmetics and Nutella. Through these projects, we’ve amassed a database of well over 150,000 consumers, which has led to a huge level of interest from global brands across the UK, USA and other European markets,” said Hill.

 “With such rapid growth and an increasingly expanding pipeline, we needed to strengthen the team to match. Expect to see more as Send Me a Sample continues to grow over 2019.”

Murphy arrives at Visualsoft to lead PPC
Visualsoft, an eCommerce and digital agency, has hired Craig Murphy as its head of paid search. He will be tasked with ensuring that its paid search offering remains at the forefront of the industry and adapts as and when needed. Murphy’s ultimate purpose will be to offer the best and most appropriate PPC strategy to clients to maximise their growth.

Prior to taking up this role, Murphy held senior positions as head of PPC strategy at MediaCom North and head of paid media at Latitude Digital Marketing.

“I want to grow the department to become the UK’s biggest and most successful PPC team. This isn’t simply in terms of revenue for the business, but also by ensuring that our client product offering is of the absolute highest quality,” said Murphy.

WLT appoints business CEO and non-exec board director
Marketing production and business support services provider Williams Lea Tag has appointed Clare Hart as CEO of the company’s business unit and Paul Carr as non-executive board director.

Hart most recently served as CEO of Sterling Talent Solutions where she drove the company’s growth strategy through new products and services, geographic expansion and organisational redesign around key industry verticals.  Prior to Sterling, Hart was president and CEO of Infogroup where she transformed the business by reorganising the company to client-focused lines-of-business under a united and enhanced Infogroup brand.  Hart also served as president of the Dow Enterprise Media Group and president and CEO of Factiva, a joint venture of Dow Jones and Reuters.

“I am excited about joining Williams Lea and leading the team to deliver ever-improving products and services that enable our clients – and all Williams Lea stakeholders – to enjoy improved business operations and ultimately commercial success,” said Hart.

Carr joins the Williams Lea Tag board in addition to his current role as president of Third Bridge, a disruptive primary research provider to institutional investors.  Previously, he served over ten years as president of Axiom Law, a leading disruptor in the legal industry. Prior to that, he was head of strategy at American Express and a partner at the Boston Consulting Group. 

Nassar and Humphrey join SecureAuth exec team
John Nassar and Robert Humphrey have been appointed CRO and CMO, respectively, at secure identity firm SecureAuth.

Nassar joins with over 30 years’ experience in high-performance sales organisations in the security market. He has built and led teams at multiple organisations including Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint and Cisco Systems. In his role as CRO, Nassar will lead all revenue producing functions globally.

“The identity market has exploded in both market size and its recognized importance to both the security and business impact to organizations,” said Nassar. “I am excited to join SecureAuth and its impressive team and hypergrowth business.”

Humphrey brings more than 35 years of experience in sales and marketing, with expertise ranging in market strategy, demand generation and brand awareness. Humphrey arrives at SecureAuth after having served as CMO of ForgeRock. Past executive leadership roles include Citadel Security, McAfee, ITKO, and CA Technologies.

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