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HZDG hires Vicky Aloneftis to lead brand strategy and planning, makes other staffing moves

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

February 22, 2017 | 3 min read

Integrated creative agency HZDG, out of Rockville, Maryland, has made new hires and staff moves in response to the company’s recent account wins, including landing Relevent Sports.

Vicky Aloneftis joins the agency as senior director, brand planning and strategy. A veteran of global agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and McCann, Aloneftis brings a wealth of experience to the independent agency, having overseen teams on global businesses including Siemens, BP, and American Express. In this newly created role, she will lead and build HZDG’s brand planning and strategy group.

Vicky Aloneftis

Aloneftis spent nearly 10 years at Ogilvy New York as senior partner, group planning director in brand strategy. Prior to that, she worked at McCann, independent Oasis Advertising, and Omnicom Group’s Merkley + Partners, among others. She will work across HZDG’s locations in Rockville, DC, New York and California from her base in the agency’s Baltimore office.

“Vicky is curious about everything from cultural trends and business to economics and sociology. The enthusiasm she brings to this discipline is infectious. She’s smart, passionate and a proven team leader – perfect for our growing department,” said Katie Hooper, HZDG’s vice president of strategy and managing director of the agency’s Baltimore office.

In other HZDG staffing news, the company brought in Frank Delaney as associate creative director of social media. He previously worked at IMRE in Baltimore, where he was associate creative director.

Mike Metz, an Art Director at HZDG from 2011 to 2013, returned to the agency as associate creative director from La Plata, MD-based NDG, where he was creative director.

Amanda Kloos also returned to the agency, where she was an art director from 2008 to 2015 before going to iStrategyLabs. She takes the role of associate creative director of social media at HZDG.

The new hires and staff moves were made to better service new business being brought in by HZDG, including signing Maryland Marketing Partnership and Relevent Sports. HZDG was hired by Relevent, organizer of soccer’s International Champions Cup and promoter of international soccer events across the world, to develop strategy and creative for a marketing campaign to promote the International Champion's Cup, presented by Heineken, which in 2017 will feature competitions across the US. The campaign's aim is to build awareness of the ICC tournament amongst American audiences, and to generate excitement for the competition as a must-see, must-attend sports event.

“We value the strategic smarts and creative capabilities HZDG brings to marketing, particularly in the sports sector. We’ve worked with the agency in the past and are thrilled to again partner to bring the ICC to more passionate sports fans,” said Cathy Jamison, VP of marketing at Relevent.

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