People on the Move, including changes at Burger King, Tommy Hilfiger and Ad Council

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Brands

Burger King’s top marketer, Fernando Machado, has resigned from the brand after an auspicious six-year reign and is to join Activision Blizzard as chief marketing officer. The former Unilever exec joined Burger King in 2014, working his way up to the global chief marketing officer role in 2017. In 2020 he climbed further to become global chief marketing officer of Burger King’s parent company RBI, which encompasses giants including Popeyes and Tim Hortons.

Lenovo has announced the appointment of Amar Babu as the new president of Lenovo Asia-Pacific, taking over the responsibilities from Ken Wong. As President, Babu will be responsible for leading the PC, smart devices, mobile and data centre businesses across Australia and New Zealand, Central Asia Pacific, India and Japan.

Waitrose has appointed Emma Isaac as head of brand marketing and marketing planning. Isaac has recently joined the retailer after four years at the Natwest Group where she was brand marketing director. She held a senior marketing role at Barclays for three years where she was responsible for brand, media, sponsorship activation and marketing effectiveness.

Pizza Hut’s US chief marketing officer George Felix has exited the brand for a new role outside the marketing industry, according to a spokesperson. The news comes amid rumors of a larger overhaul of the brand’s marketing operation.

Tommy Hilfiger has appointed Alegra O’Hare as chief marketing officer of Tommy Hilfiger Global. O’Hare is tasked with developing and executing the brand’s global marketing strategies to reach and engage existing and new customers. O’Hare arrives at Tommy Hilfiger following a stint at Gap where she led the global marketing team through digital-first marketing and an omnichannel overhaul.

Agencies

Iris has named a new chief executive officer, co-founder Claire Humphris. Humphris is one of the agency’s six original founders and was the agency’s first official employee back when it was founded in 1999. She will be taking over from Chris Marlow, who is stepping down after 16 years.

David Miami has announced yet another important new hire in the shape of Luiza Prata Carvalho. She takes the reigns as head of account management, leading client service operations for the entire agency following six years with W+K Portland.

WPP has announced the appointment of Sara Rose as executive creative director for Boots UK as a part of the agency’s global strategic partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). In her new role, Rose will lead the new WPP creative team for Boots and is charged with delivering bold purpose-driven creative campaigns.

Global brand experience agency, VMLY&R has elevated Kenni Loh to chief executive for its operations in Malaysia and Indonesia, uniting the markets as part of its strategy to be the first agency network to offer full-funnel marketing solutions from CX, brand experience and e-commerce to retail on-the-ground activation, across both countries.

David & Goliath has announced a series of promotions and new hires in a move that aims to bolster the agency’s creative and strategy departments and deliver breadth and depth to its newly launched Creative Impact Hub. Lixaida Lorenzo and Frauke Tiemann take up the mantle of executive creative directors, both elevating from group creative director positions. A further two new hires to the agency roster come as Michael Molinaro is recruited as group creative director and design director and Bruno Cunha takes on the role of group strategy director.

Clear M&C Saatchi has made two internal promotions to its global group board, as well as a senior industry hire. Amanda Skudlarek, executive director of US creative, and Mark Killey, director and head of offer, join the board at the same time as Matt Woodhams joins as strategy director to bolster Clear M&C Saatchi’s work in the CPG sector.

Mediabrands has announced two key promotions within its APAC regional leadership team. Zarka Khan-Iltaf has been promoted from her former position of HR director to chief talent officer for Mediabrands APAC, and Naomi Michael has been promoted from her former position as head of marketing and communications to the new position of chief marketing and communications officer for Mediabrands APAC.

Media

Apartment Therapy Media’s site Kitchn has tapped Patty Lee to serve as executive editor. Lee, who most recently served as senior food editor at The Spruce, has more than a decade of media experience, ranging from print titles like the New York Daily News and Time Out New York to digital positions with the Cooking Channel, Zagat and Today.com.

Elsewhere

Elise James-DeCruise has been named the Ad Council’s first chief equity officer as part of Ad Council's ongoing commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. James-DeCruise brings more than 20 years of experience in leading strategies and solutions to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and professional development within the world of marketing and communications.

DoubleVerify has announced the appointment of two regional vice-presidents in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Nick Reid will be regional vice-president for Northern Europe and Michael Fuhrmann is regional vice-president for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central Eastern Europe.

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