People on the move: Hires and departures at GoPro, AppNexus, DigitasLBi and more

GoPro has poached Apple's Daniel Coster and appointed him vice-president of design.

Coster will influence all aspects of design at GoPro in his new role, including hardware and software and services to maximize the GoPro user’s experience from end to end.

A member of Apple's industrial design team for more than 20 years, Coster is credited for his contributions to a wide range of consumer electronics ranging from the iPhone 4 to the iPad wireless keyboard.

AppNexus

In a sign of the tectonic shift in the online advertising industry’s dynamics, AppNexus has announced the appointment of former UK Microsoft Advertising boss Owen Sagness (pictured) as vice-president of sales for its advertising technology group (ATG).

Sagness will report to Marcus Startzel, AppNexus chief revenue officer, for its demand-side platform (DSP) offering, and will lead the charge in the ad tech outfit’s charm offensive on the busy-side of the industry across EMEA from his London base.

Startzel said Sagness’ existing relationships with media agencies and brand-side marketers will aid its push in the region. “Given our aggressive push in European markets, his expertise and counsel will prove an invaluable asset,” he added.

DigitasLBi

Laurent Ezekiel, DigitasLBi’s global client services director, will now serve as managing director of the agency’s New York and Atlanta offices.

He takes on responsibilities that were previously held by DigitasLBi’s New York region president Joanne Zaiac, who has now moved into the role of chief operating officer for North America at the agency.

Ezekiel, who has been with DigitasLBi for more than 13 years, will now be tasked with driving growth and development at the agency’s New York and Atlanta offices. He will split his time between New York and London, reporting to both North American chief executive Tony Weisman and global chief executive Luke Taylor.

RKCR/Y&R

RKCR/Y&R has appointed Tamsin Djaba as a strategy partner as it looks to shuffle its internal management structure.

She joins from Droga 5 where she held the role of strategy director, now responsible for leading structure on the agency’s leading clients.

The new structure will see new chief executive Jon Sharpe granted more autonomy.

Content Inc

Former Starcom MediaVest Group UK chief executive, Stewart Easterbook has helped launch a new content agency, Content Inc.

Easterbook will serve as founding non-executive director and strategic advisor on the board of the consultancy, which has been set up as a partner agency to creative shop Agency Inc.

The company has also named Easterbrook’s former SMG colleague Ian James, currently European managing director for Acxiom Europe, as a second strategic adviser to the startup. Mat Morrison, Easterbrook’s former head of social media at SMG and global head of digital planning at Porter Novelli, will lead the content planning and assessment function.

Reading Room

Reading Room’s managing director Sarah Vick is to leave the agency less than a year after it was acquired by public service software solutions provider Idox for £5.6m.

Vick confirmed her departure to The Drum and will become an independent consultant.

John Davies, former head of business consulting for Idox, will replace Vick. His LinkedIn profile reveals that he switched to the business last month, when he took on the role of organisation development director.

Roast

Roast, the online performance agency founded by Steak founder Oliver Bishop, has bolstered its senior ranks with more former executives from the digital shop with the arrivals of John Barham and Kate Bath.

Barham takes on the role of head of paid media, while Bath is business development director. Both bring their extensive knowledge in PPC and strategy to the agency, having worked with brands such as John Lewis, the BBC, P&O Cruises and the Post Office.

Jaywing

Jaywing has appointed Brett Jacob to the newly-created role of sales and marketing Director.

Jacob’s role covers both Jaywing and Epiphany brands with the entire sales and marketing teams reporting to him in a newly centralised function.

Jacob joins from Experian, where he led the media, leisure and retail vertical markets. Previously, he was a management consultant at IBM and PWC and head of customer analytics at first direct, as well as sales and commercial director for Jaywing’s data science arm from 2005 through to 2010.

Jack Morton

Global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide has made three key senior hires within the agency’s core areas of client relationships and creative.

Dina Green is appointed as vice-president, business director and Andrew Thomas and Nate Thompson are appointed as creative directors. The appointments are effective immediately.

Green joins with nearly fifteen years of senior-level industry experience. As well as building her own agency she has held client and agency-side senior management roles. These roles have included managing director at inVNT and head of live at Gyro.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in the industry, Thomas has held senior creative roles at a number of agencies including Fold 7, Lowe, Pentland and Cheil, while Thomas, who has been with Jack Morton since 2013 has now been promoted to the role of creative director.

DBi

Havas Media Group’s digital analytics and data consulting division, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Tate as its new sales director.

Tate will work in partnership with Rob Jackson, DBi’s managing director, as well as the group’s senior management team, which includes the recently appointed chief executive of Havas Media Group UK and Ireland, Paul Frampton.

Operating at an executive level in business development across digital, advertising, marketing and communications, Tate will apply his two decades of expertise within the digital marketing sector to his new role.

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