KINESSO, IPG Mediabrands technology-driven performance marketing engine within the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), has announced a new EMEA leadership lineup to capitalise on the agency’s momentum and to set the groundwork for further anticipated business growth across the region. Previously Chief Digital Officer for Initiative UK and International and KINESSO UK&I Board Member, Lauren Ogúndèkó has been promoted to Chief Transformation Officer for KINESSO EMEA. In her new role, Ogúndèkó joins KINESSO EMEA’s leadership team – spearheaded by KINESSO UK&I CEO and President EMEA, Chloe Hawking – and will be responsible for leading and implementing the agency’s global transformation and operational initiatives at a regional level. Ogúndèkó will focus on bringing performance approaches closer in line with wider strategy and planning teams across EMEA at KINESSO and IPG Mediabrands’ partner agencies, while also ensuring the business is scaled to organise itself around the required talent, specialisms and technology to meet clients and market needs. Sanita Sandhu has been promoted to Chief of Strategy and Growth for KINESSO EMEA. Previously holding the title of Chief Strategy Officer, Sandhu’s role has been expanded to include leading Growth functions across the region. Sandhu will partner with the agency’s 17+ EMEA markets, drive client excellence though KINESSO’s award-winning performance capabilities. Sandhu’s will also work in close collaboration with IPG partner agencies to drive growth through the adoption of KINESSO’s data-driven performance marketing capabilities and technology – including its own in-house platforms.
Iris, the global creative network, has today announced the appointment of Zoe Eagle as CEO, Iris London, and Katy Hopkins as Executive Creative Director, Iris London. The appointments come as Claire Humphris, London CEO and Grant Hunter, Global Chief Creative Officer, step down after 25 and 20 years at the agency. Eagle joins from Accenture Song where she rose from Managing Partner to Managing Director and then to her current role of Creative Agency Co-Chief in just three years. Before that she was Managing Director at Karmarama, having previously worked at BBH, Creature and DLKW. During her career she has built a reputation for delivering effectiveness for clients, having been awarded IPA, Effie, APG and Marketing Week awards across the British Army, Lidl, Virgin Media, Weetabix, The Trainline and Stroke Awareness. Hopkins joins from House337, where she was Creative Director, overseeing work for brands including NOW (SKY), B&Q, PETA and Green Flag. During her 17-year career, which started at WCRS, her work has been awarded by Cannes Lions, Creative Circle, British Arrows, One Show, Kinsale Sharks and D&AD, amongst others. Eagle and Hopkins will be tasked with steering Iris through its next phase of growth, enhancing its creative output, and driving innovation to ensure the agency continues to lead the way in delivering transformative and award-winning work for its clients.
Precis, the full service digital marketing agency, has hired its first ever Growth Director to support its bold expansion plans. Precis welcomes Matthew Chinn as its new Growth Director, starting September 2nd, who joins from Croud. Supporting Jess Dickenson, Managing Director, Chinn will spearhead local marketing and sales strategies to elevate Precis’s brand awareness and extend its reach to new clients. This strategic hire is a pivotal move in Precis’s growth journey, aligning with the company’s vision to amplify its presence in the competitive UK market. Chinn brings a wealth of experience from his role at Croud, where he played a crucial part in scaling the agency and achieving notable industry accolades including winning New Business Team of the Year at the ALF Insight Sales & Marketing Awards. With a proven track record of successful business development and a deep understanding of the industry, Chinn is well-positioned to drive Precis’s ambitious goals forward.
Leading independent agency ROAST has appointed Haider Ali as Head of Organic Performance, following over nine years at the company. He will be replacing Harry Sumner in the role, which will see Ali spearhead department innovation, as well as strive to consistently improve organic performance for ROAST’s clients. Ali will report into John Barham, Managing Partner, Performance at ROAST. Ali began his career at ROAST as an SEO apprentice back in 2015. Ali’s career has since seen him lead and execute high performing campaigns, for many of his clients, such as Experian, AVEVA and The London Stock Exchange. The agency celebrates it’s 10-year anniversary next February. ROAST’s clients include Rightmove, Experian and LEON.
SocialChain has appointed Victoria Willis as Operations and Delivery Director. Joining SocialChain from LADbible Group where she was Director of Delivery, Willis brings over 18 years of experience in overseeing teams responsible for project and resource management, content production, delivery, optimisation and reporting. Victoria’s previous experience has also included roles at The Walt Disney Company, AOL and Maker Studios, leading delivery teams and helping to drive scale and efficiency. Throughout her career, Willis has led high-profile business initiatives with a strategic, solution-focused approach. Willis joins as part of the SocialChain senior leadership team and will report to the agency’s new CEO whilst working closely with the Brave Bison executive team to ensure that operational processes and employees deliver strong customer experience and value-added service delivery.
RTB House, a global company that provides leading-edge marketing technologies for top brands and agencies worldwide, has promoted Anna Jankowska to Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, which also sees her join Adlook, part of the RTB House Group, in the same role. With more than 5 years of experience at RTB House, Jankowska will continue to enhance current strategic alliances, as well as establish new opportunities with renowned brands, retailers, and corporations worldwide. Prior to this role change, she supported the global business development of RTB House by fostering strategic partnerships. Through this, she was building and nurturing enduring C-level relationships, both locally and on a global scale. In her new role, Anna will drive the success of both RTB House and Adlook at the highest levels.
London-based digital marketing agency MediaVision has strengthened its team with a number of notable appointments. Tasha Antwi joins as Strategy Director, bringing over a decade of industry experience. Previously serving as Director of Search at Rise at Seven, Antwi’s expertise will be instrumental in growing Metis, MediaVision’s flagship platform. Sarina Kastendiek has been appointed as Senior Digital PR Manager, joining from Marks & Spencer. Her extensive experience in the fashion retail sector is expected to bring valuable insights to MediaVision’s diverse client portfolio. Finally, Jack Norrel, formerly at eBay, steps into the role of SEO Account Director, bringing valuable tech SEO e-commerce insights to the agency’s SEO strategies. The agency has announced plans to further expand its Digital PR and SEO teams in the coming month.
Global social media and marketing agency, Socially Powerful, has announced the launch of Socially Powerful: Talent a new unit combining deep expertise in influencer management with AI tools to maximise the potential of established and emerging influencers. Socially Powerful has appointed former Influencer Marketing Lead EMEA at DSM, part of YMU Group, Curtis Morton, as Head of Talent Management, briefed to launch and grow Socially Powerful’s influencer talent roster and maximise the potential of brand marketing relationships. Socially Powerful: Talent launches with a diverse mix of influential talent all with fast-growing audiences, embracing subjects such as entertainment, sport, food and travel with a combined audience of over 45 million. Talent including French influencer Tuvok12 who has 15 million followers on TikTok and 8.7 million subscribers on YouTube, join lifestyle influencer Alice May, travel and lifestyle duo Ayca and Martin Dederke, lifestyle and comedy creator Abby Boom and foodie Imran Ali aka WhatInTheChef.
Primer, the unified infrastructure for global payments, has appointed Alex Mallet as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This strategic appointment demonstrates Primer’s commitment to developing robust and cutting-edge infrastructure for its global customer base. With over 25 years’ experience in the tech sector, Mallet brings with him a wealth of experience from previous tenures at Microsoft, Amazon, and more recently, Berlin-based logistic startup, Forto, where he was EVP of Engineering. With extensive experience in large-scale distributed systems, his expertise spans cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, e-commerce platforms, and internal infrastructure services. Based in Berlin, Mallet will play a pivotal role in driving technological advancement and support the continued expansion of the fully-remote company backed by global investors such as ICONIQ, Accel and Balderton. Primer recently announced it is on track to achieve 400% year-on-year revenue growth in the European market as well as key partnerships with leaders in the travel, retail, and gaming sectors, including New Look, GetYourGuide and Printify.
parcelLab, the premier global post-purchase experience platform, today announced the appointment of Nick Bareham as SVP of Global Sales. In his new role, Bareham will lead the sales strategy and execution, with a strong emphasis on customer-centric enablement and understanding buying behaviors. He will be instrumental in showcasing the value of parcelLab’s post-purchase innovations. Bareham brings more than twenty years of experience leading commercial innovation across globally recognized retail and tech businesses. Bareham was previously at Virgin Red, Mirakl and Scandit, where he served as Director and then VP of Sales leading on Sales strategy, process optimization and talent development.
Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation software for businesses of all sizes, today announced Kevin Sellers has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer. Sellers brings more than 25 years of broad-based global marketing expertise to Avalara with a proven track record of driving growth and relevance for world-class brands and moving buyers to action. As CMO of Avalara, Sellers will be responsible for all aspects of marketing including driving demand generation, digital marketing, brand identity, partner marketing, product marketing, prospect marketing, and corporate communications. Prior to Avalara, Sellers has held CMO positions at Ping Identity and Avnet and spent more than 20 years at Intel in various global marketing and investor relations leadership roles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Calabrio, the workforce performance company, has appointed Robert Rivera as Chief Sales Officer (CSO). Rivera is responsible for accelerating Calabrio’s growth with strategic new logos along with expanding on the company’s existing key relationships and partnerships. Rivera brings over two decades of technology sales experience to Calabrio, with a proven track record managing direct sales, partners and cross-functional teams. His deep expertise in building high-functioning sales teams and driving successful customer outcomes will be instrumental in Calabrio’s continued growth. Rivera joins Calabrio’s executive leadership team overseeing sales, enablement and partnerships globally and will report directly to Joel Martins, CTO and Interim CEO. Rivera comes to Calabrio from Dynatrace, where he served as GEO Vice President of Sales, LATAM. During his tenure, he played a key role in the company’s IPO in 2019 and contributed to Dynatrace’s successful growth trajectory, establishing it as a $1B+ revenue company in a highly competitive industry. Prior to Dynatrace, Rivera co-founded and served as SVP of Sales at Vigilant Enterprise Solutions, where he led the company to a remarkable 200% revenue growth during his tenure.
Quant, the digital finance pioneer, has appointed Lenna Russ in the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer. Russ joins from Tradeteq, the leading private debt and trade finance marketplace, where she spent three years as Chief Revenue Officer. During her time at Tradeteq, Russ oversaw several major milestones. These include a $12.5m Series A Plus funding round, the opening of a new Dubai office, and membership of the FCI – the global representative body for factoring and financing of Open Account Domestic and International Trade Receivables. At Quant, Russ will apply her extensive leadership skills, commercial acumen and knowledge of the financial technology landscape to spearhead the company’s commercial operations and support its continued growth. She will take accountability of several existing teams, including marketing, sales and product development.
