Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Talent Tracker: MediaCom UK, Page & Page and Partners, Cavai and more

MediaCom UK has announced the appointment of Dave Wallace as Head of Consumer Apps, to help clients better understand how applications fit within their digital strategy and create campaigns that help drive traffic to customer apps across all platforms. Wallace has over 25 years of experience in technology and media, having founded digital marketing agency Mirum, where his focus was developing digital strategies for clients including HSBC, Nokia, Unilever and Nestle. He was also the founder of HeathWallace in 2001, which worked to develop the most effective online customer experiences for brands.  

Page & Page and Partners, the independent global creative communications agency specialising in health, wellness and lifestyle, has promoted Kristian Webb to Partner, just four months after joining. Webb joined Page & Page and Partners as Scientific Director in November 2021. Leading with unique scientific storytelling expertise and innovative creative thinking, Webb has taken his team from strength to strength, which is set to see further growth and expansion over the coming months.  Webb’s career began in the medical profession as a Chief Cardiac Physiologist within the NHS. He founded a medical device company which offers a wearable device for those with an ICD (Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator). Throughout his career, Webb has always been passionate about patient education and communication and is a published author and course creator on the topic.

Cavai, the conversational advertising cloud, has appointed Jonathan Pacey as Commercial Director, APAC. Pacey is based in Singapore. Previously Sales Director at mobile-first advertising company, Kargo, he was also Senior Strategic Advisor at discovery and native advertising platform, Taboola, and Head of Brands and Agencies at web recommendation platform, Outbrain. As part of a career spanning 20 years, Pacey also worked at some of the world’s largest media companies, including News Corp Australia and Fairfax Media.

Havas Media Group in the UK has announced the promotion of Ailsa Buckley to the position of Chief Client Officer, as part of its ongoing focus on client leadership and excellence in client service. Buckley takes on the role following three years as Deputy Managing Director at Havas Media, where she has been responsible for developing best-in-class client solutions, strengthening client relationships and leading multi-disciplinary agency client teams for the likes of Hyundai, Dreams and O2. Prior to joining Havas Media Group in January 2019, Buckley was General Manager at Wavemaker, leading the agency’s L’Oréal business. She has previously held positions at Maxus and MEC.

PayByPhone, the mobile parking payments company, has announced a change in its UK and global leadership as the company shifts away from its regional organisation to a new global leadership structure, which comes into effect on 1 April 2022. Jonny Combe, who has been UK CEO since November 2018, is promoted to lead the global corporate division as CEO Corporate. Roamy Valera, a 30-year veteran in the industry, becomes Chief Client Officer in charge of PayByPhone’s more than 1,300 clients globally. Valera was previously PayByPhone’s CEO of North America. Ryan St Hilaire, PayByPhone’s Vice President, Product, will oversee the global Consumer division in addition to overseeing all product work.

Clarity, the global marketing communications agency, has announced the appointment of Victoria Morrison as global Head of Marketing. Morrison joins Clarity after 2.5 years as Global Marketing Director at Hotwire, where she oversaw the creation and delivery of the agency’s global marketing plan – including the launch of their new brand and positioning. Working alongside Victoria, Clarity has also hired Andy West, formerly Hotwire Chief Development Officer, as a Board Advisor in his continued advisory of global PR firms under his new company, West of Center. These announcements come following a strong start to the year for Clarity, with the agency adding 23 new team members globally to support its expanding client portfolio. This includes key growth hires such as Sam Benson, Performance Director and Deputy MD of Clarity’s digital marketing services, following the extremely successful integration of 3 White Hats last year. Clarity has also hired Kate Jelonek, formerly of Weber Shandwick, as Senior HR Business Partner, to continue to strengthen the agency’s People & Culture team as part of its commitment to providing a best-in-class employee experience.

The Smart Cube, a global provider of strategic research and analytics solutions, has announced three senior appointments in its leadership team, effective January 2022. Sudeepta Chaudhuri, formerly Head of Analytics, has been promoted to Chief Data Analytics Officer and elevated to The Smart Cube’s Executive Team. Chaudhuri, who brings more than two decades of experience in analytics, joined the company in late 2019 to strengthen its analytics practice. In addition, Subash Chandar and Vaibhav Jain, formerly head of Life Sciences and CPG respectively, have been promoted to Co-Heads of Procurement. In this new role, they will focus on growing The Smart Cube’s procurement business, working closely with Omer Abdullah (MD and Co-Founder) and Gaurav Kumar (Chief Operating Officer).

Globalization Partners has announced the appointment of Nat (Rajesh) Natarajan as its new Chief Product and Strategy Officer. As a key member of the leadership team, Natarajan will report to Globalization Partners’ President, Bob Cahill, driving G-P’s innovation strategy, product vision, and roadmap and will play an essential role as G-P continues to build innovative world-class products to meet rapidly growing customer demand. A highly accomplished, operational growth executive, Natarajan has over 27 years of experience leading global technology and engineering organisations. With a strong focus on customer experience, Natarajan most recently served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Product and Technology at RingCentral, where he led a global team of over 3,500 people, guided innovation for remote work and set the product strategy for the future of the company. 

Zenith has hired a new Group Strategy Director, Tom Coulson, who joins the agency from Hearts & Science, where he most recently held the role of Client Partner. Tom Coulson will report into Zenith’s Chief Strategy Officer Richard Kirk, and will be leading strategy on Aviva, Molson Coors, 888.com and Edrington Beam Suntory. Coulson is a Zenith ‘boomerang’ who started his career in media as a graduate at Zenith in 2010, where he spent his first six years in the industry, progressing from Graduate Planner to Account Director and working with brands like Associated British Foods, Aviva and Reckitt. He has spent the last five and a half years at Omnicom Media Group, working first at Rocket before becoming one of the early members of the team at Hearts & Science, OMG’s high growth agency.