People on the move featuring NFL, Netflix and Omnicom

Weight Watchers' UK marketing director Claudia Nicholls-Magielsen has left the business after less than a year in the job.

The reasons behind her departure, or where she's moving on to, are unknown but Weight Watchers is currently hunting a replacement.

Chris Stirk, senior vice-president and general manager UK for Weight Watchers, told The Drum it was actively recruiting for a new marketing director for the UK.

Carat

Media agency Carat has created two new client managing director positions within its senior leadership team.

Kim James is moving across the Dentsu Aegis Network to lead the Diageo portfolio and Grant Burke has been promoted to handle the Wickes and Debenhams accounts.

James was previously chief client officer for Amplifi, the group's investment division, while Grant has served at Carat for a decade and was formerly group client director.

Merkle

Merkle has appointed Simon Rice to the dedicated role of data protection officer (DPO) for EMEA.

In this newly created position, Rice will ensure that Merkle continues to meet its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came in to force across the EU in May this year.

Rice’s role will also see him act as an independent advisor to the business while engaging with regulators.

Omnicom Media Group

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has named Guy Hearn its chief product officer in APAC, placing him in charge of the strategy for the agencies within the group and leading the integration of platforms.

Previously chief innovation officer, Hearn will now be responsible for the products across agencies OMD, PHD and Hearts & Science. He will also work with Annalect to embed tech and data across the agencies, as well as leading the integration of Omni, a precision marketing and insights platform.

Wunderman UK

Wunderman UK has hired James Irvine as managing partner. His appointment comes as the agency expands key accounts including Microsoft, Shell and BT. Irvine moves over from integrated creative agency VCCP Kin where he was head of account management.

Hometree

Hometree, the smart home services company, has made four new hires to its senior management team as it launches the first online led boiler installation service in the UK. Paul Lewis, chief marketing officer (CMO) joins from VoucherCodes, James Kydd, brand adviser joins alongside role as marketing director at Purplebricks and Rob Gladwin, strategic adviser, joins after stepping down from the board of Wolseley.

Gymbox

Rory McEntee has been appointed as marketing director, to support the company's expansion strategy. He will be responsible for all aspects of the brands marketing and will take on the leadership of the digital, brand and social strategy.

Omnia Retail

To help launch the brand in the UK, Omnia Retail has appointed Kingsly Kaba as UK sales manager.

Kaba previously worked at fintech company Divido, where he set up the retail finance efforts. As part of his new role, Kaba will provide strategic leadership and drive adoption and growth of the Omnia product suite in the UK.

3 Monkeys Zeno

3 Monkeys Zeno (3MZ) has appointed Robert Stone as its new director of digital strategy & innovation as it ramps up investment in the agency’s digital strategy and capability.

Robert joins 3MZ following five years at Pegasus where he was responsible for driving the agency’s digital growth, integrating a broad range of digital services within the mix of traditional PR and communications services. He has a particular interest in AI and automation, recently developing his own chatbot.

VCCP

VCCP has promoted Sian Richards to the role of head of diversity and inclusion, to further support vice chairman Julian Douglas and VCCP's on-going initiatives.

In this new position, Sian will work to focus VCCP’s existing efforts and provide a platform for the agency to continue to grow and be primed for the future. She will work across the Partnership to ensure talent comes from all walks of life and staff are supported in their own entrepreneurial projects.

Omnicom Media Group

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has named Guy Hearn its chief product officer in APAC, placing him in charge of the strategy for the agencies within the group and leading the integration of platforms.

Previously chief innovation officer, Hearn will now be responsible for the products across agencies OMD, PHD and Hearts & Science. He will also work with Annalect to embed tech and data across the agencies, as well as leading the integration of Omni, a precision marketing and insights platform.

Smaato

Real-time ad platform Smaato has made two senior hires into its Apac business, chiefly naming former Oath Apac managing director of platforms Alex Khan to lead the region.

Khan, who will be Apac managing director at Smaato, will also be joined by Toby Williams, who will be senior director demand business development Apac. Williams also worked at Oath and was head of exchange demand, Apac.

BBDO Singapore

Mateusz Mroszczak has been appointed as executive creative director at BBDO Singapore. He has previously worked at Happiness Brussels and Saigon, where he was creative director. The new appointment comes after Primus Nair left to pursue new opportunities.

J Walter Thompson Hong Kong

Carlos Camacho has been appointed as executive creative director for J Walter Thompson Hong Kong, replacing Simon Welsh who will return to the UK. Previously, Camacho was executive creative director at JWT Shanghai.

Hitwise

Hitwise has named Timur Yarnall, the former ComScore executive, as its new chief executive and president.

Taking on the newly created position, Yarnall, who was previously senior vice-president, advertising products & corporate development at ComScore, will lead the Symphony Technology Group (STG)-owned business, which provides insights into consumer attitudes and competitive benchmarking to brands such as Mercedes Benz, Expedia and Best Buy.

NFL

The NFL has announced the hiring of Tim Ellis, as its new chief marketer, ending the Activision Blizzard vet’s seven-year stint.

Ellis has replaced Dawn Hudson, who left her post earlier this year to be the chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

At Activision Blizzard, Ellis oversaw the game developer's roster of titles, including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Destiny, and Skylanders.

HP Inc.

HP announced that Vikrant Batra will succeed Antonio Lucio as its chief marketing officer. HP also announced the promotion of Karen Kahn, chief communications officer and head of communications, corporate brand and events to the executive leadership team. Both Batra and Kahn will report to president and chief executive officer Dion Weisler. Lucio will depart HP on August 31 to take on the chief marketing role at Facebook.

Batra was most recently global head of marketing for HP’s $19bn Imaging and Printing group and previously led marketing globally for the company’s $33bn Personal Systems group.

Nestle

Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati, Ohio based start-up and entrepreneur community, has named former Nestle head Pete Blackshaw its chief executive officer.

Blackshaw has left his most recent post as Nestle’s global head of digital and social, where he led the brand’s digital transformation. In his new role, Blackshaw is tasked with making the company the top start-up and entrepreneurial hub in the US midwest.

Netflix

Rachel Whetstone is swapping Facebook for Netflix to run global communications for the streaming service as it focuses on international markets that have become the source of most of its subscriber growth. The British executive is a seasoned Silicon Valley operator who worked at Uber and Google before she moved to Facebook last year. She joins Netflix as it is spending an increasing share of its $8bn programming budget outside the US: it recently revealed plans to spend about $1bn on original productions in Europe alone.

180LA

180LA announced that two new teams will be joining the agency, bolstering a creative team. Copywriter Will Sands, previously at Deutsch and AKQA, will partner with art director Robison Mattei. Prior to joining the team at 180, Mattei worked at Saatchi & Saatchi LA, CP+B and JWT Sao Paulo, and Leo Burnett Dubai.

Hush

Design agency Hush has added to its creative production department by appointing Zoë Salditch to the role of senior producer.

During her years as a creative producer and digital art curator, Salditch directed efforts for Rhizome at New Museum, edited for Giphy, collaborated with Moogfest, Tribeca Film Festival and artist Ai Weiwei and co-founded her own digital art product and platform, Electric Objects.

Now as Hush Senior Producer, Salditch hopes to apply the insights she’s gained from her previous work in digital curation, product development, artistic collaboration and storytelling into a position that requires constant communication and a level of humanization.

Fluid

Digital agency Fluid, who recently merged with digital commerce company Astound announced today that it has added six key members to its management teams in New York and at Oakland headquarters.

Andrew Guldman has rejoined Fluid as vice-president of product engineering and research and development, where he will lead a team and continue to build out the Fluid Configure platform. Andrew Leibowitz has joined as vice-president of client services, and will lead the US client services team. Jennifer Ryan was hired as marketing director, where she will lead communications efforts. Courtney Severson has joined as account director where she will focus on the Bloomingdale's account. Jose Cifuentes has been appointed as business development manager at Fluid. Rebecca Paul has joined Fluid as senior strategist where she will analyze client data, establish KPIs, and help guide in-house analytics practices.

Instrument

Instrument, an Oregon-based digital brand and experience innovation company has hired Tsilli Pines as vice-president of creative.

Tsilli brings 20 years of experience in design, creative direction and community building to Instrument. She is the co-founder and director of Design Week Portland and hosted the Portland chapter of the internationally recognized lecture series, CreativeMornings, from 2011 until early 2018.

Postal

Postal, a post-production company has announced the signing of three new artists, which include industry veterans Peter Amante as Flame artist, Sean Eno as associate creative director and Abigail Kim as designer and animator.

Amante has over 20 years of experience in visual effects and has worked on feature films including Drive, Salt, and Young Adult, and television spots for brands such as Crest, Budweiser and Weight Watchers.

LO:LA

The advertising creative agency LO:LA has officially announced the new executive hire of Dave Scott, former RAPP Los Angeles senior vice-president, group creative director and former lead creative on the national Toyota business.

Scott will spearhead creative strategy alongside chief executive and founder, Nick Platt, and support new business development efforts with partner and head of client relations, Rosanne Ramos.

George P. Johnson

George P. Johnson has announced the hiring of Marcos Ribeiro as vice-president, global executive creative director, for the IBM account. Based in GPJ’s New York office, Marcos will be responsible for leading global creative efforts for IBM, as well as expanding the local team in the US.

The Media Kitchen

The Media Kitchen has announced that Courtney Blount has been promoted from associate director to group director. The announcement was made by The Media Kitchen’s chief executive Barry Lowenthal.

In the new post, Blount will continue to oversee the Victoria’s Secret PINK, Dressbarn and Lane Bryant accounts and will manage digital media strategy and buying for Vail Resorts. She will also continue to build out The Media Kitchen’s strong social capabilities.

Contagious LA

Director Lena Tsodykovskaya has signed with ContagiousLA (CLA) for exclusive US spot and branded long-form representation.

Originally from Moscow, Lena already has amassed a list of international spot directing credits, working with top-tier brands like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Adidas, L'Oréal, and global agencies BBDO, DDB, McCann Erickson and TBWA, among many others.

GYK Antler

Marketing and advertising agency based in Manchester, NH, GYK Antler, has announced that Marian Spurrier has joined the team as its director of talent and development.

In her new role on the management team, Spurrier will partner with senior leaders and collaborate with teams to clarify strategy, align goals and solve business challenges.

Vladimir Jones

Independent, family-owned agency Vladimir Jones (VJ) extended its strategic staffing plan and added six people who will further enhance collaboration among teams and service to the agency’s growing roster of clients.

VJ’s new team members in the Colorado Springs and Denver offices are: Annie Rehage, senior copywriter; Melissa Norman, project manager; Morgan MacGuire, social media and PR coordinator; Aly Ladd, media coordinator; Jessica Spillman, media coordinator; and Sophia Taulbee, receptionist/administrative assistant.

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