People on the Move: Hires and Departures at AOL, Unilever, BBC and more

AOL president Bob Lord, whom many had expected to become chief executive of the US giant, has revealed he is to leave the company in 2016 in the hope of taking the reins at a publicly listed company elsewhere, according to reports.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Lord said he wants to run a publicly listed company, or one that is headed towards an initial public offering (IPO), with current AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong also conceding he had been grooming the soon-to-leave exec to become his eventual successor.

Unilever

Unilever has appointed Aline Santos as senior vice-president of global marketing, following the departure of Marc Mathieu who left in June to join Samsung.

Santos will be the company's second most senior marketer behind chief marketing and comms officer, Keith weed.

Having been at Unilever for over 25 years, she has worked across several arms of the business with brands such as Dove and Surf.

BBC

The BBC’s Alan Yentob, has stepped down from his position as creative director over claims that he tried to influence coverage of the financial irregularities and sexual abuse at the scandal hit Kids Company charity which he previously chaired.

Yentob has been accused of a conflict of interests after making a phone call to Newsnight ahead of a report on the charity after it collapsed in August amid claims of financial mismanagement.

Subway

Subway has named Joseph Tripodi as chief marketing officer just weeks after the chain’s former spokesman Jared Fogle pled guilty to child pornography charges.

Tripodi, who most recently served as Coca Cola’s marketing head, replaces Tony Pace as the sandwich chain’s chief marketing officer. He will be charged with overseeing marketing, product offerings, and customer engagement.

NBC

John Harrobin, who formerly served as a marketing exec at Verizon, is joining NBC as chief marketing officer of its in-house ad agency.

In his new role, he will oversee all marketing and creative content activities of its Content Innovation Agency.

He will report to NBCUniversal’s chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships Linda Yaccarino.

Diageo

Diageo has appointed a new global brand director for Baileys after the departure of Garbhan O’Bric last month.

Grainne Wafer has been promoted from her role of as global strategy and content director for Guinness and will now head up the liquer brand starting January 2016.

Sky Sports

Gary Neville has left his Sky Sports punditry position as he takes up the managerial position at Spanish club Valencia.

The former Manchester United defender ends his four-year spell as a pundit with Sky Sports to become head coach at the La Liga club.

In a statement announcing the 40 year-olds departure, Sky Sports managing director, Barney Francis said: "We wish Gary all the very best as he returns to football with our blessing and begins his managerial career with Valencia."

City AM

City AM has tapped Forbes appointed Charles Yardley to lead the publication as chief operational executive.

Yardley, who has been managing director and publisher of Forbes since 2004, will be responsible for overseeing the business operations, working closely with the commercial and editorial teams.

RadioShack

Actor and musician Nick Cannon is now serving as RadioShack’s chief creative officer.

According to an announcement from the company - which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year before being rescued by a hedge fund - Cannon is a “lifelong fan” of the retailer and began his relationship with the company “at the age of eight, shortly after inheriting his grandfather’s stereo equipment".

Upworthy

Upworthy has tapped Bloomberg’s Zazie Luke as head of brand solutions.

Luke has served in the marketing department at a number of publishers including Rolling Stone, US Weekly and Men’s Jounal.

500px

500 px has hired Kelly Thompson as head of marketplace.

Thompson is a photo licensing industry veteran, having worked as senior vice-president, product development at Getty Images and chief operating officer of iStock by Getty Images.

At 500px, she will oversee the expansion of 500px marketplace, developing new products to service the company’s growing number of enterprise accounts, including advertising agencies and large brands.

YOC

Mobile firm YOC has announced the appointment of Adam Gilsenan as chief media consultant.

In a newly created role, he will develop client and agency relationships, establish trading agreements and connect YOC to digital trading desks as the company continues to expand its operations in the UK.

Gilsenan is the former head of trading at the Mail where he was responsible for dealing in content across the publisher’s group portfolio.

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