Incubeta, is delighted to announce the appointment of Meg Phelps as its new Global Chief People Officer. Phelps joins the company with a diverse background spanning multiple sectors including central government, 10 Downing Street, construction, outdoor advertising and global public relations. This variety of high and low-margin organizations has given Phelps a broad perspective on how to build strong business strategies with people at the forefront. Working alongside an already well-established People team, Meg will drive operating model transformation and ensure the people experience is fully aligned. Under Meg’s leadership, the global People team will aim to bring more opportunities for individual growth and global connection, and expects to see Incubeta’s culture of innovation and excellence further strengthened.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. has named Laura Fenton CEO of OMG UK. In her new role, Fenton – who has been CEO of OMD UK since 2020 – will oversee strategy, operations and the development and adoption of transformative capabilities to support OMG UK agencies – including OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, and the Annalect data and analytics division in the UK. Fenton succeeds Dan Clays who was recently named CEO of OMG EMEA. During her tenure as CEO, the agency added Compare the Market, British Gas, Open University and Noble Foods to its client roster, and retained the Channel 4 business following a review that saw every major holding company competing for the account. Combining a robust business development record with expanded insights and analytics capabilities, a new full-funnel planning proposition, and a career development initiative designed to help mid-level talent accelerate their rise through the ranks, Fenton led OMD UK to a Media Week Agency of the Year title in 2022, and a place on the shortlist for the 2023 award that will be announced next month. Fenton herself is also a contender for Agency Leader of the Year.
Eightfold AI has announced the appointment of Chano Fernandez as Co-Chief Executive Officer, effective January 2024. Chano Fernandez led HR’s transition into the cloud at Workday from 2014-23, most recently as Co-CEO. During his tenure, Workday grew from $450M to $6B in revenue. As a leader of Eightfold AI, Fernandez will help transform HR once again, this time with artificial intelligence (AI). In addition to Chano, Eightfold has recently brought on senior level executives such as Darren Burton, former CHRO at KPMG, and Ankur Bhatt, former CTO at SuccessFactors. These investments clearly demonstrate the company’s vision to scale and provide HR industry leadership.
SurveyMonkey, a global leader in online surveys and forms, has announced Amit Prakash has joined the company as chief marketing officer (CMO). With more than 20 years of experience leading digital and growth marketing teams at well-known companies like Cloudflare and Amazon, Prakash will play a pivotal role in the company’s next chapter. Amit Prakash joined SurveyMonkey in 2023 to oversee growth and enhance customer experience as chief marketing officer. Prakash has a proven track record of building marketing engines that drive meaningful outcomes for large-scale businesses. Previously, Prakash led Growth Marketing at Cloudflare, where he was responsible for driving increased adoption of products within their existing customer base. He spent nine years at Amazon Web Services (AWS) building data, digital marketing, and operations teams.
Tactical, the global creative and innovation agency, has hired strategic business leader Andrew French as its Managing Director. French, who has proven success in leading, investing and advising companies in the advertising, marketing and technology industries, has been appointed to spearhead the company’s global ambitions. As Managing Director, French is tasked with heading up Tactical’s teams across all regions, bringing invaluable experience from working with major brands such as Uber, H&M, Airbnb, Heineken and Audi over the past 15 years. He brings with him a people centred approach to ensure teams work collaboratively to support both the individual and company growth goals.
Biscuiteers, the UK’s original hand-iced biscuit company, is expanding its leadership team with the appointments of Fiona Geekie, who joins as Omnichannel and Marketing Director, and Abbie Barker, the company’s new Finance and Operations Director. The senior appointments come as Biscuiteers scales its growth ambitions, following further expansion of its wholesale business, strong growth across corporate sales, and the expansion of its overseas offering, particularly in the US. Geekie brings a wealth of experience in leading Marketing and Ecommerce teams to drive growth and innovation. She joins from Mahabis, the premium global footwear company where she led the marketing and ecommerce team as CMO, introducing new marketing channels, expanding internationally, and establishing strategic wholesale partnerships. Prior to that she was Marketing Director at My 1st Years, the personalised baby gift company, Commercial Director at Moonpig, and held senior marketing positions at brands including Virgin Money, Which?, NatWest, and BarclayCard. As new Finance and Operations Director, Barker has extensive experience working with global high-growth companies. She joins from FLOWERBX, the luxury flower-delivery company, where she led the finance team as Head of Finance for four years and was instrumental in helping to secure £3 million pre-seed and £8 million Series A funding rounds, while playing a key role in growing the company turnover by 130% and in their international expansion into the US. Prior to her role at FLOWERBX, Barker was a Management Accountant at Qubit Digital; a personalisation software for ecommerce businesses, where she supported their $40 million Series C fundraise and worked with key brands such as Net-a-Porter, Emirates and River Island.
SuperScale, the success engine for the games industry, has appointed former BoomBit Head of Marketing Karina Lavushkina as a Marketing Strategist. In her new role, Lavushkina will be responsible for elevating SuperScale’s marketing communications, content and campaigns across social media, events, and more. Lavushkina has more than 10 years of experience in games industry PR, marketing and business development roles. Prior to BoomBit she spent four highly successful years building the international brand of War Robots developer, Pixonic. Early in her career, Lavushkina nurtured strong gaming communities as an organizer of the b2b gaming conference, DevGAMM.
Shipup, the post-purchase experts, has announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Agop Ashjian. With offices in New York and Paris, Shipup has primarily operated in these areas, however this new appointment marks a significant evolution for the company as it launches in the UK market. Prior to his role at Shipup, Ashjian held several senior positions at Global Blue, who recently acquired Shipup to strengthen its post-purchase portfolio alongside sister company ZigZag Global. Ashjian brings over ten years of experience in financial management, retail technology and strategic leadership. In his most recent role, Ashjian was responsible for Global Blue’s RetailTech portfolio, providing him with a deep understanding of retail technologies and a strategic vision spanning various markets and regions.
Pathway, a trailblazing AI data platform company, has announced the appointment of Anup Surendran as Head of Product Marketing and Growth as part of its US expansion plans. In his capacity as Head of Product Marketing and Growth, Surendran will lead initiatives for positioning and growth as Pathway expands into the US market, while driving adoption of the Pathway framework in the developer community and among enterprises. Surendran brings a strong track record of product marketing, product management and growth to Pathway, having previously led QuestionPro from $3M to $30M in revenue. Through pioneering product-led growth strategies, he rapidly and successfully scaled the team and transformed QuestionPro into a market leader for market research and customer experience
