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Talent Tracker: Starcom, Tripadvisor, Ozone and more

Starcom, part of Publicis Media, announces the hire of Lin-Sze Teh as the newly appointed Head of Planning. Lin-Sze, who joins from iProspect, will be responsible for supercharging Starcom’s planning division to drive faster growth for clients, by ensuring a clear and consistent approach to media that is fuelled by Publicis Media’s market-leading data, tools, and systems. Lin-Sze has spent over seven years at iProspect (and previously Vizeum), most recently as Managing Partner and has worked across brands such as IKEA, 20th Century Fox, Weetabix, Hendricks, Panasonic, NARS, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and MINI. She previously held roles at MGOMD and UM where she built her experience in media planning and strategy.

Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform, has announced the appointment of tech, travel and hospitality veteran, John Boris, as its Chief Marketing Officer. In the role, Boris will establish a world-class marketing function for Tripadvisor, where he will have direct responsibility for the platform’s B2C and B2B marketing strategy and execution. Boris, who will directly report to CEO Matt Goldberg, has served in several C-suite and executive leadership roles during his career. As the Chief Marketing Officer of Shutterfly, he helped grow and transform the company into an industry leader. As Senior Vice President of Marketing at Zagat, Boris successfully led the company’s digital transformation (web, mobile and subscription), enabling it to become the omni-channel leader in restaurant reviews and ratings.

Ozone, the digital advertising platform built for brands, by publishers, has appointed seasoned commercial lead Danny Geelan as its new Agency Hub Lead for GroupM. Geelan joins Ozone after almost 12 years at leading UK publisher dmg media where he held a variety of senior positions, most recently as Head of Sales for Mail Metro Media. Geelan brings a wealth of industry experience with him. Among his many key achievements include negotiating
multi-million-pound trading agreements with key agencies, including GroupM, and acting as Mail Metro Media’s sales lead for all Government display advertising during the Covid pandemic, as part of Newsworks’s All Together newsbrands campaign.

Fortra has welcomed Matthew Schoenfeld to the organization as its new president. A software industry veteran with more than a decade of experience in cybersecurity, Schoenfeld has a proven record as a dynamic, purposeful leader. He has a strong history of growing sales and revenue while helping customers solve challenges through a collaborative approach, a Fortra hallmark. Current president Jim Cassens will continue to support the business as an executive director.  Schoenfeld joins Fortra from Absolute Software, where he was EVP and chief revenue officer overseeing global sales, channel partnerships, and the customer experience. He has an impressive background in the technology and cybersecurity space developed over more than two decades, which included his tenure as executive in residence at Greylock Partners, senior vice president of the Americas and partner channel at FireEye and as an advisory board member for Abnormal Security.  

Edisen, the unskippable content company, has appointed industry leader Jacques van Niekerk as its new Global CEO. He brings 30 years of experience to the role as Edisen continues its drive to enhance the technology revolutionising content creation, from Generative AI capabilities to cutting-edge Special Effects and CGI. In his new role, Van Niekerk will oversee development of Edisen’s 350-plus team’s skills to meet the demands of clients and shifting consumer content consumption habits. Van Niekerk’s previous roles include a stint in the media, film and entertainment industry in his native South Africa. Following this, he rapidly rose to prominence as a CEO, firstly at ad-tech start-up Acceleration, and subsequently in the same role at leading marketing agency Wunderman Thompson Data.

Anzu.io, the in-game advertising platform, has today announced further plans to grow its US business. As part of the push, Anzu’s Co-Founder and CEO, Itamar Benedy, has relocated to New York to join a growing team that includes Geoffrey Summerville, Anzu’s new EVP Global Growth, and former Amobee CCO Jack Bamberger, who has joined as a Strategic Advisor. The company has also made it’s first Chicago hire in Alex Greaner as Senior Account Executive and is hiring for many more senior US-based positions.

Ecommerce integration provider, Patchworks, has appointed technology, engineering and consulting heavyweight Jim Herbert, as Chief Executive Officer. Herbert joins from his position as SVP and General Manager EMEA at SaaS leader BigCommerce to lead Patchworks through its next stage of growth. Bringing over 20 years of ecommerce and digital transformation experience, Herbert started out as a developer and solutions architect on digital transformation projects, with a stint as a CTO, before co-founding Sceneric, one of the UK’s first ecommerce systems integrators. He has held leadership positions at businesses including Digitas, Zetman, AyataCommerce and Greenlight Commerce and been a Council Member of the MACH Alliance.

Playground xyz (PXYZ) has announced the hire of consumer neuroscientist, Dr. Shannon Bosshard as Lead Scientist. Dr. Bosshard joins from Australian Radio Network’s Neurolab (ARN Neurolab) where he was responsible for establishing and managing the function as Australia’s first in-house media research initiative of its kind. At PXYZ, Bosshard will lead the consumer attention research initiatives that will unlock best practices and understandings for brands to drive optimal attention and ultimately business outcomes across their digital advertising campaigns.

Pyramid Analytics (Pyramid), a pioneering decision intelligence platform provider, has announced that it has appointed a Vice President of Global Customer Success. This newly created role provides unified, company-wide management of this critical function under one executive: Hayley Munro. Munro held leadership roles at FICO, an analytics software company, where she was Managing Director and Vice President of Global Customer Success. At Medallia, a provider of a SaaS platform for customer, employee, citizen, and patient experience management, she was Senior Vice President for EMEA.

Analytic Partners has announced the appointment of Denise Karkos, chief marketing officer at SiriusXM, and Todd Hyatt, former executive vice president, and chief financial officer of IHS Markit, to its board of directors. Denise Karkos has served as the CMO for Sirius XM since 2019. A recipient of Ad Age’s 2019 CMO of the Year, and Adweek’s Brand Genius Award, she brings unparalleled experience overseeing strategic planning and execution of revenue-driving marketing initiatives. Previously, Karkos held various leadership roles at TD Ameritrade, TD Bank, Digitas, and Hill Holiday. She earned a BBA in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and is a member of the Asurion Board of Directors. Todd Hyatt is the former executive vice president and CFO for IHS and IHS Markit. He brings extensive management, financial, and accounting experience, focusing on executing short and long-term strategic plans. Prior to joining IHS, Hyatt served as Vice President for Lone Tree Capital Management and has also worked for US WEST / MediaOne, AT&T, Arthur Young, and Arthur Andersen. Hyatt holds a Masters in Management from Purdue University, a B.S. in accounting from the University of Wyoming, and is a member of the  Emerald Expositions Board of Directors.

eCommerce consultancy, Wunderman Thompson Commerce, has appointed Ashton Hubbard as Sustainable Commerce Director to support retailers in creating and advancing their environmental commitments. Passionate about people, the planet and profit, Hubbard brings expertise across consulting, creative, technology and operations through her passion and advocacy for environmental, social and business governance. She joins the sustainability team to support in developing the global Sustainable Commerce Practice, in partnership with clean technology company, Vaayu Tech.

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