People on the move featuring Airbnb, Tatler, Telegraph and more
This week has seen another wave of appointments and departures at brands, media owners and agencies. The Drum has rounded up the key moves from the EMEA, APAC and North America regions below.
People on the move is a weekly column. Contact jenny.cleeton@thedrum.com with any appointment stories
Darren McLeod has joined Big Partnership in Manchester as client strategy director to support the agency's growing client list as it grows into the North West. McLeod joins from Agent Marketing in Liverpool, where he led the strategy and planning team.
Steve Lucas has been appointed as director of fundraising and marketing at Breast Cancer Care, effective immediately. Starting his career in retail, Lucas has held senior positions at the likes of UK National Lottery, Walt Disney, Haagen-Dazs over the years.
Tatler editor Kate Reardon has resigned after seven years at the helm of the high society magazine. Gavanndra Hodge, the title's deputy editor, will oversee Tatler in the interim with a successor to be announced in the New Year. Reardon said she will share the news of her new venture "when it’s appropriate".
Forbes Media has named Mike Federle as chief executive, succeeding Mike Perlis. Previously Federle has served as Forbes Media's president and chief operating officer and will take on the new role at the beginning of 2018.
The Telegraph has strengthened its commercial team with two new hires to leadership positions. Joanna Lawrence has been appointed to the newly created role of Managing Director, Strategy and Client Development, whilst Karen Eccles has been recruited as Digital Sales and Innovation Director.
Fred Townes, founding chief technology officer of Mashable, has joined Balehu as chief technology officer in the hope to bring blockchain technology to the small business. Also joining is Kevin Meillinger who takes on the role of director of marketing.
Interbrand Australia has appointed Davy Rennie as director of customer experience. He brings more than 10 years’ experience working across digital, innovation and customer strategies. He was previously the national experience design director at whiteGrey and, prior to that, director of customer experience at Deloitte.
Ikon has also promoted Pia Coyle to national head of investment to lead the agency’s dynamic trading product and teams. Coyle has been with the agency since 2011 and has been promoted through several roles including head of media services and trading director.
AdAsia Holdings has appointed one of the founding members of Google Japan, Jun Ogawa, as country manager, Japan. He will also head up the advertiser engagement department, AdAsia's buy-side business.
Watatawa Consulting, the Singapore-headquartered communications consultancy, has appointed Tim Williamson as managing director for its new fintech and financial services sector practice. Williamson brings 22 years’ experience in journalism and corporate communications to the role. He has extensive experience working with financial services and fintech companies across Asia, Australia and the UK.
Alex Speakman has been promoted to executive planning director at Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne and Joe Heath appointed as planning director as the agency moves to strengthen its integrated planning model.
PPR Australia and New Zealand has appointed Michael Pooley as chief executive officer. Pooley was previously the chief operating officer and has spent 10 years at the agency in various roles including group director, general manager of the Sydney agency and COO for ANZ.
Grey has named Dan Bennett as worldwide chief innovation officer, a new position at the agency. He will be based at Grey’s flagship New York headquarters. In this new role, Bennett will be responsible for driving Grey’s digital agenda globally.
DDB Worldwide, part of Omnicom Group, announced that iCrossing’s Mark Mulhern will assume chief executive officer at We Are Unlimited, the designated full-service advertising agency for McDonald’s in the US.
Mother announced the hire of Joe Staples, a Wieden+Kennedy vet to help tack down its west coast expansion as their new partner and executive creative director. Staples was an executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy’s Portland office, where he oversaw the advertising, technology, and design for brands such as Nike, Coca Cola, Old Spice, Chrysler, and Weight Watchers.
Turner has announced the promotion of Molly Battin from her post as chief brand strategy officer to global chief communications and corporate marketing officer. In her new role, the 17-year veteran will be responsible for brand reputation across all of Turner’s platforms, internal and external strategic communications, media planning and buying, media relations and publicity, and assuring that all communications reflect Turner’s core values and advance its business strategy.
Group Nine Media has announced the appointment of WPP and Xerox veteran Christa Carone to oversee sales, marketing and data insights. Carone, who held the role of chief operating officer for WPP consulting firm Group SJR and managing director for J. Walter Thompson endeavor Colloquial, will be joining the digital-first media company, which is home to Thrillist and video news creator NowThis, among others.
Cass Zawadowski has joined Wunderman and Blast Radius as vice president, creative director across Canada. Zawadowski will oversee creative for the agency’s offices in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. Zawadowski, who has produced high-level work across virtually every major advertising category, will be responsible for a broad client roster that includes GSK’s entire 16-brand consumer health portfolio, as well as IKEA, Xbox, OLG, BMW, Shell, and Fido.
Brownstein Group has made two new appointments with Sean Carney joining as the first content director and Kyle Harty as group director of social media. Carney will be responsible for agency long-form writing as well as determining the unique aspects of an organization, adopting the brand voice and creating in-depth content. Meanwhile Harty is responsible for developing and leading all social strategies for big-name clients like IKEA and NJM Insurance.
Chip Register is stepping down from his role as co-chief executive of Publicis.Sapient to focus on building a digital engagement center for Prevention of Violence, a nonprofit he founded with his wife. Alan Wexler, who previously served as co-chief executive alongside Register, will now take over as chief executive.
Production company and artist management agency Great Bowery Film has appointed Amy Jones head of sales/executive producer. In her new role, Jones will partner exclusively with Great Bowery Film’s founding executive producer, Shannon Lords.
Jenny Gadd has been named global head of production at Airbnb, her first brand-side job. With over 20 years experience of working in agencies and production companies, Gadd will be based in San Francisco.
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