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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. Email imogen.watson@thedrum.com if you want to be included.
Three UK
Three UK has appointed Katrina Ward-Smith as director of brand and marketing communications.
She adopted the position in the interim earlier in 2018 before taking on the role full time this week. She was tasked with the strategic direction of the brand and oversaw it taking on a new market position.
Bein Media Group
Bein Media Group has appointed Yousef Al-Obaidly to the position of chief executive officer. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the previous CEO and chairman, will remain in the position of chairman of the group.
Al-Obaidly most recently held the role of deputy chief executive officer.
The Creative Engagement Group
The Creative Engagement Group (TCEG) hired senior agency client lead Lauren Ince as head of client service, to work across its four brands; WRG, The Moment, Axiom and Just Communicate.
Lauren Ince joins from Evidently, the film content agency, where she was the managing director.
Halal
Halal has recruited Ivo van Riet as its new executive producer Ivo van Riet.
In his new role, van Riet will be part of a team expanding the agency’s international presence.
Epiphany
Jaywing’s search agency Epiphany has appointed Alex Blaikley as client leadership director.
Alex will oversee the client leadership team in the UK. He has joined from iProspect where he was group head of clients.
McCann London
McCann London has promoted the creative directors behind its Xbox campaigns, Sanjiv Mistry and Jamie Mietz, to executive creative directors of m:united//McCann London.
Mistry and Mietz were among the first creative hires under McCann London’s chief creative officers Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson.
Wunderman UK
Wunderman UK has hired Niki Foteinopoulou as lead data scientist as it endeavours to strengthen its data and analytics team.
Foteinopoulou will be responsible for implementing machine learning, running advanced Big Data projects and developing new analytical solutions for Wunderman’s global client base.
MCCGLC
Ben Woolf is leaving RPM to become executive creative director at MCCGLC.
He will report into founder and chief executive officer of MCCGLC, Matteo Console Camprini and oversee all creative growth and output from the agency.
Kelkoo Group
Kelkoo Group has appointed Paul Lyonette as its commercial director for the UK and Europe. Lyonette has been brought in to service and expand the group’s client accounts.
In his new role, Lyonette will be responsible for building international partnerships with retailers and merchants across the UK and DACH markets.
The British Business Bank
The British Business Bank has appointed of Angelene Woodland as its first chief marketing officer.
Woodland’s role for the government-owned bank has been created to lead it’s new Demand Development Unit.
FCB Health Europe
FCB Health Europe has appointed Michael Le Brocq as European strategic planning director, Izzy Huzzey as strategy director and Fiona Cheetham as group account director.
Le Brocq joins the network from McCann Health London, where he served as chief strategy officer. Huzzey most recently served as communications lead at UCB, and Cheetham previously served in the same role at Cello Health Cypher.
Collinson
Collinson has appointed Todd Handcock as president, Asia Pacific. He will be responsible for delivering the company’s strategy across the Asia Pacific region and building its network of regional customers while supporting global customers with operations in Asia Pacific.
MullenLowe Lintas Group
MullenLowe Lintas Group has appointed Heather Gupta as group human resource director. Gupta will be responsible for three agencies – Lowe Lintas, Mullen Lintas and PointNine Lintas.
EY Hong Kong
EY Hong Kong has bolstered its creative portfolio by hiring Iñaki Amate, Thierry Halbroth, and Dwayne Serjeant to drive design and creative thinking.
EY Hong Kong hires three former design and creative agency leads / EY Greater China.
QYOU Media
The video company has appointed Krishna Menon as chief revenue officer. Based in Mumbai, Menon will drive the advertising and sponsorship revenue in one of the company's fastest growing markets.
Exponential
The adtech platform has appointed Alex LeMersier as sales director for Singapore. LeMersier will be responsible for generating and maximising revenues from new and existing advertisers and agencies, whilst also leading and developing the Singapore team.
Ogilvy Australia
The agency has promoted four of its key leaders in Sydney and Melbourne, as part of a continued push to position itself as an agency of the future.
Sally Kissane and Michelle Holland have both been elevated to managing directors for Ogilvy Sydney, after working together as managing partners for three years. In Melbourne, Gavin MacMillan and Michael McEwan also become managing directors following three years of working together as managing partners.
OMD Australia
The agency has appointed Penny Shell to Melbourne head of product and national head of planning. Penny will lead the OMD Melbourne product and will also be responsible for OMD Australia’s implementation planning approach, nationally.
MercerBell Australia
The customer experience agency has promoted managing director Julie Dormand to chief executive officer, taking over the leadership baton from current CEO and founding partner, Nick Mercer, who is appointed chairman of MercerBell Australia. David Bell remains in his role as executive creative director.
DHL Express
The express services provider has appointed Christopher Ong to the role of managing director for DHL Express Singapore. Ong, a Singaporean, will report to Ken Lee, chief executive officer of DHL Express, Asia Pacific, effective immediately. He will be responsible for charting the company’s overall business growth and success in Singapore.
Lion & Lion
The digital agency has promoted Supriya Jain to managing director at Lion & Lion in Hong Kong. She will lead Lion & Lion’s business in Hong Kong to drive the group vision forward and further strengthen its growth and client relations.
Havmor
The India-based ice cream brand and a wholly owned subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Confectionery, has announced the appointment of Anindya Dutta as its new managing director. He will be the first MD after Lotte acquired Havmor Ice Cream in Dec 2017.
J. Walter Thompson Manila
The agency has announced four key promotions across both creative and account management, as the agency continues to celebrate combined business growth and awards success.
Bob Cruz is promoted to creative director and Albert Millar is named senior writer, while Sofia Lobregat is elevated to senior account manager, and Catherine Lee becomes account manager.
R/GA
R/GA has promoted Sean Lyons to global chief executive, replacing founder and chairman Bob Greenberg who has held the post for more than 40 years.
Lyons was previously the agency's US president, and has been with the company for 11 years in two separate stints. He was personally appointed by Greenberg as his successor and will take up the post on 2 January.
Droga5
London-based sports marketing agency Dark Horses has snapped up Droga5's executive creative director Steve Howell as creative partner.
Howell was promoted to executive creative director at Droga5 back in 2016. Before joining Droga5 in 2012, he clocked time at Saatchi & Saatchi as a copywriter.
MSL Group
Publicis Groupe has hired Diana Littman as US chief executive of public relations firm MSL.
Littman was most recently the executive director and chief innovation officer of Omnicom-run firm Marina Maher Communications (MMC). She spent 11 years at the publicity firm and had also served in senior leadership roles at WPP’s Cohn and Wolfe (now known as Burson Cohn & Wolfe).
Periscope
Independent agency Periscope has hired two executive creative directors: Heath Pochucha and Jason Bottenus, from Deutsch LA and Fallon, respectively.
Pochucha was most recently group creative director of Deutsch’s Los Angeles office on the Volkswagen account. He’d previously held roles at BSSP, Fallon and Carmichael Lynch, on brands such as Harley-Davidson, Mini and Jack Link’s.
A new leader for Facebook's Global Creative Shop has been named in Rapha Vasconcellos. He has been with Facebook for six years, heading up the company’s Creative Shop in two of its fastest-growing regions, Latin America and most recently, Asia Pacific.
Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products
Marianne James will take on an expanded role at Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products (VNCP) leading the consumer products business across Viacom’s UK & Ireland, Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia (UKNEE) cluster.
James previously led consumer products and commercial partnerships for the UK. She will continue her commercial partnerships role for Nickelodeon UK in addition to her new cluster responsibilities.
Twitter has hired God-is Rivera as its first global director of culture and community, a role that will see her develop inclusive campaigns for the brand.
Rivera joins from the newly-consolidated VMLY&R, where she was director of inclusion and cultural resonance. She will report to Nola Weinstein, Twitter’s global head of culture, engagement and experiential.
The Media Kitchen
The Media Kitchen has named Bonnie Barest as managing director of the New York office.
As managing director, Barest will oversee operations at the New York office, with an emphasis on building strong client relationships and leading new business efforts. She will report to Barry Lowenthal, the agency’s chief executive officer.
Pinterest has named its first chief marketing officer as Andréa Mallard, the former marketing chief of Athleta.
Mallard, who worked for the Gap-owned sportswear brand just shy of two years, will oversee Pinterest’s marketing and creative teams. She joins the company as it looks to grow its audience across the globe.
BBDO
BBDO has shuffled its regional management structure to name St John Walshe as chief executive of BBDO Americas and Jim Moser as chairperson of BBDO Europe.
Walshe is currently managing director of BBDO’s European business, where he leads the global Mars account. He will move to the US in 2019, taking over from Chris Thomas.
Sleek Machine
Jeff Marois has returned to Boston’s Sleek Machine to take the role of associate creative director. After leaving the agency in 2017, he worked briefly for RPA in Santa Monica.
Social Chain Group
Social Chain Group has appointment Oliver Yonchev as managing director of North America.
As managing director, Oliver will oversee the development of the agency’s North American operations, as part of its plans to open three additional US offices across LA, San Francisco, and Chicago while leading the New York headquarters.
Current Marketing
Current Marketing, part of Interpublic Group, announces a trio of new hires made to further strengthen the agency’s talent communities. Joining are Chuck Rachford as executive creative director, Janeen Davis as vice president, planning, and Jennifer Symmonds as vice president, human resources.
Mono
Julie Vessel has been elevated to chief talent officer. In this new position, she will have a broader leadership role in heading up the agency’s talent recruitment and retention efforts. Duties will include agency-wide training and development; attraction and retention of world-class talent; leading, inspiring and developing Mono employees; and agency growth.
Anomaly
Anomaly has promoted the agency’s Los Angeles-based chief creative officer Josh Fell to partner after only joining in May of this year. He joins Anomaly’s top leadership as the agency continues its rapid growth globally.
Isobar
Global digital agency, Isobar, announced three key leadership changes, showcasing its commitment to growth and innovation. The agency elevated Tonya Bakritzes to chief marketing officer, Sean Shelby to chief technology officer and Dave Meeker to chief innovation officer. All of the newly created roles will report into US chief executive, Deb Boyda.
Oberland
Arnau Bosc, who joined purpose-driven agency Oberland in October of 2015 as a graphic designer, has been named the agency’s first-ever design director.
Bosc now oversees the agency’s five-member design team and reports to agency co-founder and executive creative director Bill Oberlander. Among the accounts Bosc touches at Oberland include American Friends of the Hebrew University, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the New York Institute of Technology.
Sweetshop
Sweetshop has signed International Emmy-winning director Edward Berger.
He is the talent behind the critically acclaimed series Patrick Melrose, The Terror and Deutschland ’83.
Armadillo
Armadillo has appointed Ann Hiatt as its new non-executive director. This is Hiatt’s first agency role, having worked previously for Google and Amazon.
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