People on the Move, including new hires and exits at Patreon, Vauxhall and Empire

If you’re looking to make your next move, remember to subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter, Working it Out, which gathers up the best new marketing vacancies and helps you get interview-sharp.

Got a People on the Move story or tip-off for us? Send it to peopleonthemove@thedrum.com for consideration before next Tuesday.

Brands

Creator platform Patreon has announced it has appointed Avi Gandhi as head of creator partnerships. Gandhi will oversee and grow the creator partnerships team, helping creators to understand how best to use their Patreon page.

Vauxhall Motors has announced the appointment of Adam Wood as marketing director with immediate effect. Wood was previously with the Renault Group in the UK for 14 years, most recently as marketing director, and has experience in marketing communications, product marketing and brand management.

Agencies

Croud, the global, full-service digital marketing agency, has announced the appointment of Dean Gardner as global chief operating officer. This is a new role for the business as it looks to build on its impressive growth, particularly in the US market, and further drive its new global M&A strategy.

Experience company Superfly has hired former Babbel and Freshly brand executive Meghan Taylor for the role of vice-president of strategy. Taylor brings an expertise in building iconic brands through culturally-relevant creative work and will work closely alongside president and general manager of Superfly’s agency business, Richard Black.

MediaCom China has appointed Vivi Xu as its new head of data. Vivi will directly report to Mandy Hou, chief digital officer, MediaCom China, and will work closely with her to develop the agency’s data capability.

DDB Australia’s chief creative officer Ben Welsh has announced he will step down after five years in the role.

Jamie Barrett, founder and chief creative officer of creative agency BarrettSF, has promoted four longtime employees to partners in the areas of strategy, creative, production and talent. The move comes after eight new business assignments over the last eight months. Jillian Davis, Todd Eisner, Conor Duignan and Molly Warner are to lead strategy, creative, production and people for the West Coast agency, respectively.

Global independent creative agency Gut welcomes Danny Alvarez as its newest executive creative director. The award-winning creative and renowned artist will be responsible for working on Gut’s roster of clients. He reports to Juan Javier Peña Plaza and Ricardo Casal, executive creative directors North America and global partners.

VMLY&R has announced the appointments of three new female leaders across its global and LATAM human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) functions. Loren Blandon has been named global executive director, learning, growth and experiences; Nicole Mestres is promoted to group director, LATAM; and Valerya Borges joins as director, DEI for Brazil.

Media

Nick de Semlyen has been appointed editor of Bauer Media’s flagship film and entertainment brand, Empire. De Semlyen recently stepped into the position of acting editor during former editor Terri White’s maternity leave – piloting the brand through an unprecedented period of turmoil, overseeing creative, engaging and star-studded celebrations of cinema at a time when Hollywood was on hold. He succeeds Terri White, who announced in July that she would be leaving Empire after six years as editor-in-chief.

Quartz has announced a new addition to its membership team. Jasmine Teng joins Quartz as an associate membership editor based in New York City. Teng was most recently at CB Insights, where she wrote research briefs, edited data-driven posts and produced the newsletter.