Omnicom Media Group agency OMD UK has appointed Clare Peters, formerly Head of Client and Comms Strategy at Channel 4, as Chief Strategy & Effectiveness Officer. Peters will be tasked with further advancing the insight, analytics, and strategic capability within the agency, as well as working with the CEO, Suzy Ryder, to architect the future roadmap for OMD UK in line with the changing needs of their clients. During her time at Channel 4, Peters was responsible for the broadcaster’s client and commercial marketing strategy and proposition. In addition, she was a driving force and champion for better representation in media through projects such as Black to Front. Peters was previously Chief Business Strategist at Manning Gottlieb OMD where she worked for 15 years, including six as Head of Planning, and was featured three times in Campaign’s annual list of top 10 planners. Brands Peters has worked on include Age UK, Diet Coke, John Lewis, Sony PlayStation, and Virgin Trains.
iProspect, a dentsu company, has announced several key leadership appointments across its global teams. Amy Watt is appointed Global Managing Director. In this role, she will be responsible for building iProspect’s integrated strategic services proposition and a globally consistent, connected agency brand and network. This will include leading people, processes, products, and P&L across the agency to deliver excellence on a global scale, as well as owning senior client relationships and driving growth. Watt has 18 years’ experience in media, working across a wide range of B2C and B2B verticals. She’s been at dentsu UK&I for seven years, most recently as Chief Strategy Officer for iProspect UK, leading a client base that included Netflix, Sage, IKEA, and Kering. Watt was previously Global Strategy Client Lead at Amazon. In the UK, Grace Letley, Head of Strategy, and Libby Darley, Head of Planning, are running the strategy community while a new Chief Strategy Officer is recruited. Finally, Cécile Berger is appointed Global Client President, leading dentsu’s Kering business. She will lead iProspect’s Paris team and work closely with Pierre Calmard, President and CEO, dentsu France. Berger has previously served as Global Client Lead at WPP – working with clients including Chanel and Coca-Cola – and as Chief Communication and Marketing Officer in companies such as Meetic, SFR, and Editis.
The Kite Factory has appointed Nicky Jones as Head of Charity to lead all planning and client service activities for its roster of not-for-profit clients. Formerly Broadcast & Business Director at fellow independent agency Opticomm Media, Jones brings several years’ experience to the post including a stint working on Marie Curie’s media planning and buying across both brand and performance. Reporting to Caroline Dolan, who held the role until her recent promotion to Managing Partner, Charity back in April, Jones is tasked with identifying key strategic requirements and delivering these initiatives to The Kite Factory’s clients’ senior teams.
MoPub Co-founder Jim Payne has joined Unity as Chief Product Officer for Advertising. He is tasked with helping to drive innovation and growth across the game engine’s advertising business. Payne founded in-app mobile ad server and exchange MoPub in 2010, before seeing it acquired by Twitter in 2013 for $750 million in stock at IPO. In 2018, he founded MAX, a mobile advertising header bidding solution. And he is a founding partner of Breakpoint Capital, which recently incubated CloudExchange, whose assets Unity is acquiring.
Content marketing agency ITG has promoted Natalie Somerville to Chief Client Officer. Somerville’s new role will see her manage and maintain relationships with ITG’s clients, including John Lewis Partnership (JLP), KFC, Costa, M&S, and Co-op. Having previously held senior marketing and consulting positions across retailers and brands such as Tesco, Camelot, B&Q, and Sainsbury’s, Somerville joined ITG in 2014 and became Global Managing Partner in 2022.
Optimizely, a digital experience platform provider, has announced the promotion of Shafqat Islam to President. He previously served as Optimizely’s CMO and the CEO and Co-founder of content marketing platform Welcome, which Optimizely acquired in 2021. As President, Shafqat Islam will oversee Optimizely’s product and engineering teams while continuing to spearhead the company’s marketing efforts. He will work more closely with Optimizely’s Chief Product Officer Rupali Jain and Chief Technology Officer Aniel Sud to accelerate innovation and adoption.
Wildstone, an outdoor media owner, has made a pair of hires within its Australia team. Mitch Cook has arrived as Commercial Director for Australia, while Amber Burbidge joins as Commercial Executive. Both previously worked for oOh!media. Cook’s 18 years in the industry have been split between Australia and the UK, with stints at Ocean Outdoor in the UK and in the advertising team at London City Airport. His most recent role was Product Director for Small Format at oOh!media. At Wildstone, he will focus on leveraging partnerships between landowners and media partners, driving revenue growth, and advancing the company’s goal to further digitise Australia’s OOH sites. He will work closely with Burbidge, whose entire 20-year career prior to Wildstone was at oOh!media. Her most recent role was Senior Commercial Executive, where she was responsible for driving innovation and expansion, primarily in the realm of digital billboards. She will have a similar remit at Wildstone, and will also be involved in strategic planning and market analysis.
Marketing agency StrawberryFrog has promoted Nick Sonderup to Co-Chief Creative Officer alongside Tyler DeAngelo. Sonderup was previously Executive Creative Director at StrawberryFrog. Earlier in his career Sonderup held a number of Creative Director roles at companies including Pereira O’Dell, Ogilvy & Mather, Translation LLC, and BBDO Worldwide.
