Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Talent Tracker: Starcom, Outra, Tailify and many more

Starcom, part of Publicis Media, has announced the promotion of Emma Morris to the role of Head of Investment. Previously Managing Partner overseeing investment for the agency’s dedicated Samsung team (One Publicis Team Samsung), Morris will now be responsible for all media investment on behalf of all Starcom clients in the UK, overseeing a team of 80 people. In her new role, Morris joins the leadership team of PMX (Publicis Media’s central trading and investment practice), reporting into UK CEO Steve Bignell, whilst also working closely with Starcom CEO, Nadine Young and the rest of the agency’s leadership team.  She replaces John Heather who was promoted to the new role of Head of Trading, PMX, earlier this year. Morris has worked for Starcom for the last two decades. Starting with the agency in 2002 as a TV Planner/Buyer, she has moved up the ladder and developed her expertise through numerous positions such as Head of AV and Client Investment Director. 

Data analytics firm Outra has appointed global leader in data transformation Peter Jackson as its Chief Data and Product Officer, effective immediately. Prior to joining Outra, Jackson was Chief Data and Analytics Officer at the analytics database company Exasol and held a global role as Group Director of Data Science at Legal & General and Chief Data Officer of Legal and General Investment Management. Before joining Legal and General, Jackson was Chief Data Officer at Southern Water and prior to that, Head of Data at The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Tailify has appointed Julia Burton Brown as Commercial Director as it spreads the word about the radical impact of its behavioural science technology on the creation and execution of influencer marketing. A digital advertising industry veteran with over 20 years of experience, Burton Brown will lead the growing sales team and drive Tailify’s new business pipeline. She is an award-winning and much-respected expert who was most recently named as one of  IAA 21 women in 2021 and a finalist in 40 OverForty 2021. Burton Brown spent almost six years at Inskin Media, most recently as Commercial Director EMEA, where, as well as running sales teams in Germany and the UK, she oversaw the launch of offices in the Netherlands and Canada. She has had extensive experience in key leadership roles at startups, adtech companies and also on the publisher side.

multilocal has announced the appointment of Lola Oguntokun as People Director and Charlie Parkes-Patel as Sales Director. Oguntokun will work with the leadership team to manage the company’s recruitment processes and culture, developing and executing strategies for talent management, recruitment and retention and employee engagement. She will also guide managers and leaders across the business, focusing on delivering exceptional candidate and employee experiences while developing L&D and performance management frameworks. Oguntokun has nearly 20 years of experience, having started her career as a recruiter in technology, placing top-calibre candidates into roles for some of the world’s most successful tech companies and start-ups. Meanwhile, as Sales Director, Charlie Parkes-Patel will help to drive growth in new business globally. An award-winning leader with experience in sales, account management and product development, Parkes-Patel spent a decade working at Microsoft. Alongside her expertise in digital media and online advertising, Parkes-Patel brings with her a wealth of international knowledge, having spent 12 years working in the North American market. At multilocal, she will focus initially on the Nordic territories. She holds a first-class degree in Information Technology.

Forter, the Trust Platform for digital commerce, has announced the appointment of two new board members, Sharda Caro Del Castillo and Scott Schenkel. Caro Del Castillo and Schenkel bring digital commerce, financial, operational, legal and compliance expertise to Forter. Caro Del Castillo is a globally renowned fintech leader focused on the intersection of law, technology and financial services. She formerly served as the chief legal officer, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary of Affirm, managing legal, corporate, secretarial, ethics and enterprise risk management teams in service of the company’s mission to provide honest financial products to improve consumers’ lives. Caro Del Castillo also previously served as general counsel and chief compliance officer of AirBnB Payments, as well as the Interim Global Head of Payments for the company. She also serves on the Board of Directors of GoFundMe. Schenkel is the former CFO and interim CEO of eBay, where he oversaw the company’s finance, analytics and information technology functions. Prior to eBay, Schenkel served as the CFO of multiple GE businesses, including GE Healthcare Clinical Systems, GE Medical Information Technologies, GE Plastics Europe and GE Lighting Europe. He now serves on the board of NetApp, where he is the Audit Committee Chair.

MikeWorldWide (MWW), an independent and integrated public relations agency, has announced the promotion of three senior team members in the London office, further demonstrating its commitment to purpose. MWW London has created a new Head of UK Purpose role to be filled by SVP Jasmin Athwal in this promotion. She will oversee the UK team’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and equality (DE&I) across internal operations and in the firm’s client consultancy. Amadi Tagoe is promoted to Vice President to co-lead the DE&I programme, with specific responsibilities for driving best practice across the UK business. The senior leadership of MWW in the UK will also be enhanced with the promotion of Alizia Walker to Senior Vice President and Deputy Managing Director of the London office. With eight years spent at MWW / Chameleon, she carries a wealth of experience consulting to some of the world’s leading tech brands. Walker will work closely with UK MD Tom Buttle to drive the delivery of the UK team’s strategy and support growth across Europe.

Com Laude has announced the promotions of Hayath Hussein to Chief Operating Officer, Domain Services, and Christa Taylor to Director of Marketing. Hayath Hussein will join the Group’s Statutory Board and Christa Taylor will join the Group’s Operating Board – both with immediate effect. Hussein brings over 20 years of experience in the domain name industry. This includes time spent as an in-house domain name expert at a FTSE 100 company, providing valuable insight into the needs of Com Laude clients. She has a Master’s degree in Information System Analysis from Linkoping University, Sweden. Taylor is no stranger to the internet industry with her prior position of Chief Marketing Officer of Minds + Machines Group. Taylor is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) who also holds a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and Masters of Science in Predictive Analytics (MSPA). Taylor is promoted to Director of Marketing, having formerly been the company’s Head of Marketing for dot Brand Services. Taylor will be instrumental in raising awareness of Com Laude’s highly valued service suite, including domain portfolio management, domain watch and enforcement, security services and, of course, dot Brands.

Superunion, the WPP creative company, has announced the appointment of Izgi Yapici as Executive Creative Director in New York, the latest in a series of expansion-related moves for the global branding agency. As Executive Creative Director, Yapici, who until recently was a Creative Director at Interbrand, will lead creative efforts for Superunion’s roster, including The Coca Cola Company, Google and NASA Artemis.

The IPA has boosted its leadership teams with the appointments of OMD’s Chief Operating Officer, Christian Byron; Republic of Media’s Head of Client Services, Gill Jarvie; and Armadillo’s Chief Executive Officer, James Ray. Byron takes over as IPA Commercial Leadership Group Chair from Marc Nohr following his instrumental four years in the post. For his agenda, Byron will be focussing on helping IPA agencies to achieve sustainable growth. In addition, Gill Jarvie succeeds David Shearer as IPA Chair for Scotland, while James Ray replaces Mike Leeson as IPA City Head for Bristol, Cardiff and the South West. Leeson had previously held several roles at the IPA including as a Council member. As IPA Chair for Scotland, Jarvie will represent Scottish agencies at the IPA Council, while both Jarvie and Ray will serve as figureheads for the industry in their areas.

Growth marketing automation platform Act-On has announced the appointment of John Pincott to lead its EMEA business, as the company positions itself for continued growth. Pincott will be focused on further developing Act-On’s go-to-market strategy, building out the sales team, reinvigorating its partner programme, and ultimately, driving forward expansion plans in key regions and vertical markets. As a seasoned business leader with over 20 years’ experience in international expansion, Pincott has led and worked with teams from start-up to mid-market, through to exit. He has led EMEA operations for cutting edge tech businesses, including Turning Technology (EdTech), Conversica (AI MarTech), Kibo Commerce (order management) and Shopatron (order management). He has also worked for the British Government on a multi-billion dollar tech project involving the Department of Education.