Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Talent Tracker: Teads, MediaCom UK, Microsoft Advertising and many more

Teads, the global media platform, has announced the appointment of Natalie Bastian to Chief Marketing Officer, to lead the company’s worldwide marketing team and strengthen its position as a global technology business. Based in Teads’ New York office, Bastian will be responsible for Teads global marketing strategy and enabling growth across Teads’ portfolio, including new omnichannel products such as its recently launched CTV offering. Bastian joins Teads with a wealth of experience in applying data-driven strategies to build brand awareness and adoption to emerging platforms across streaming TV in the US. Bastian was most recently at Tubi, FOX Corporation’s free ad-supported streaming service, where she served as SVP, Head of Marketing, leading marketing efforts spanning across B2C and B2B channels. Prior to this, she was Head of Sales Marketing at Roku where she spearheaded positioning strategy across all client segments and touchpoints and was instrumental in the organisation doubling in size and scope.

MediaCom UK has announced the appointment of Susana Tsui Fitzpatrick as Chief Growth Officer, leading new business growth for the agency following the successful pitches for Sky’s digital business, Klarna, Shark Ninja and Moda Furnishings’ digital business. Fitzpatrick boasts over 20 years’ media experience through an array of leadership roles in agency, eCommerce start-ups and publishing; most recently as President of Southeast Asia for Tatler Asia, where she transformed the publishing business and launched eCommerce platforms TheTatlerBar.com and Tatler Unlisted. Prior to this, she was the CEO of Media for The Parent Inc, Southeast Asia’s largest parenting community, the Regional COO at OgilvyOne, CEO at PHD Asia Pacific and Group CEO at Dentsu China. Fitzpatrick has worked on global brands such as IBM, Diageo, LVMH, HSBC, Unilever and Volkswagen. Her experience spans multiple disciplines, specialising in digital transformation projects.   

Mark Richardson has been appointed to lead EMEA and LATAM Enterprise Sales under the new Global Enterprise Sales Team at Microsoft Advertising. The announcement comes as an expansion under Richardson’s existing role as a Regional Vice President for Microsoft Advertising in EMEA. Richardson will take on the increased responsibility, leading the Strategic, Enterprise, and Corporate sales teams as well as their Sales House partners in the EMEA and LATAM regions. Richardson has over 25 years of media and technology sales experience, previously holding roles at Yahoo! and ITV before joining Microsoft Advertising over 16 years ago. At Microsoft, Richardson began his role leading sales teams in 2006 with the launch of Microsoft Advertising adCenter in EMEA.

What’s Possible Group has announced Patrick Mazzotta’s appointment as the newly created Managing Director of Data. His remit is to build a mould-breaking data, analytics and insight centre of excellence sitting at the heart of the What’s Possible Group. Mazzotta has extensive experience working in data roles in both UK and North American agencies. He joins What’s Possible Group from WPP, where he was most recently Vice President of Analytics for EMEA at Essence. Mazzotta has also led marketing science and data functions for other WPP agencies in North America, including POSSIBLE (creative agency based in Seattle), Wunderman Thompson (Toronto) and Essence (London).

Disruptive technology consultancy Tecknuovo has appointed Mike Potter as its new Chief Strategy Officer. He joins the business – which prides itself on being the antidote to traditional consulting with its Zero Dependency framework – to support its strategic growth objectives, bolster its public sector expertise and ultimately empower clients through lasting transformation. With more than 23 years of experience, Potter’s career to date has been a tour of private and public sector digital transformation projects at the likes of Boots, Thames Water, the Environment Agency, NHS Blood & Transplant, HMRC, and the Cabinet Office.

Global creator commerce company Whalar continues its significant growth with the addition of three new hires in its Commercial team covering Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). UK Commercial Lead, Samantha Hicks, has been at the forefront of developing digital marketing strategies and innovation pilot programmes for leading global brands covering CPG, Telco, Apparel and Finance for over 20 years. More recently, Hicks led Spotify Advertising’s EMEA and APAC Account Management teams, where she was part of MediaWeek’s UK Sales Team of the Year. As Commercial Director at Whalar, Hicks will be responsible for shaping and driving the commercial sales strategy for Whalar in the UK, reporting into EMEA President, Marco Bertozzi.

Bandi Manzini joins as Senior Brand Partnerships Director – Beauty & CPG. Manzini previously worked at Conde Nast where she played a key role in pivoting GLAMOUR UK into a successful digital 1st proposition – successfully leading the launch of the publication’s e-commerce initiatives and delivering over six figures in revenue for beauty event sponsorships. In her 20-year career, she has spearheaded content-led partnerships and cross-media marketing solutions for companies including ClearChannel, ITV and Time Inc. Liz Harriott joins as Senior Brand Partnerships Director – Entertainment & Gaming. Harriott is an experienced brand partnership and sales lead with over 15-years’ experience in media and advertising. She has successfully led commercial entertainment and gaming business for companies such as Bauer Media, ShortList and Stylist. Most recently she was part of the team that relaunched The Face, where she led the brand partnerships and commercial business.

Totalmobile, a Field Service Management Software (FSM) company, has introduced Rhys Thomas as Chief Revenue Officer. Thomas brings over 25 years of experience in the technology sector, working with companies such as PTC and CSI, as well as his most recent role as Area Vice President for Northern Europe at BMC Software. In his new role as Chief Revenue Officer, Thomas will oversee Totalmobile’s sales, marketing, and channel operations. His focus will be on implementing and developing a company culture focused on engagement excellence at every step of the customer lifecycle. 

With a raft of new client and project wins over the past 12 months, Leeds and Manchester-based agency Fablr has doubled its headcount – and is set to continue its growth trajectory throughout 2022. Over the past year, the boutique team has grown from five to 10, and the agency has launched a dedicated mobile app development team. Having previously specialised in working with professional services, FMCG and arts, the agency has also expanded its client base into the fast-growing Fintech sector, with clients including new-to-the-market fidomoney, plus other established financial organisations. Agency directors predict that they will have to double headcount again by this time next year, due to the number of upcoming projects.

Global Oracle partner Inoapps has announced that it has appointed Fiona Martin as Managing Director for the EMEA region and Senior Vice-President of its Applications business. In this role, Martin will drive Inoapps’ presence across the European market, providing local leadership to the regional offices and setting and executing the Inoapps growth strategy throughout EMEA. She will also oversee a significant increase in Inoapps’ global applications business, directing substantial investments aimed at customer growth. With over 25 years of IT industry experience, Martin joins Inoapps from KPMG, where she managed the relationship between the professional services giant and Oracle.

Relative Insight, a comparative text analytics software company, has engaged two new board members. Kristin Luck has joined the Advisory Board and Richard Thornton has joined the company’s Board of Directors.  Both will focus on company growth and help to scale the business for continued international expansion. Luck, a serial technology entrepreneur, is the Founder and Managing Partner of ScaleHouse, a growth advisory firm for technology and services companies in the insights and analytics sector. She will work closely with the company’s executive team to uncover expansion opportunities for Relative Insight’s offerings in the market research and marketing industries. Thornton, previously of Cint’s executive team which led the company to a successful IPO, now heads up an advisory and services firm working with tech-enabled, high-growth companies to help them to realise their potential. At Relative Insight, he will be focusing on sales efficiency, strategic partnerships and further optimisation of operations.

The intelligent hedging platform Bound has boosted its top team with the appointment of its first Chief Financial Officer, Marita Cavalcanti. Cavalcanti was previously CFO at the property technology firm Proportunity, where she will remain a board adviser. She has more than 20 years of experience in the banking and fintech sectors, gained in senior roles at OakNorth, Ebury and investment banks such as the Japanese financial services giant Nomura.

Matillion, the enterprise cloud data integration platform, has announced the appointment of its General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer. Markus Bauman joins the company as it moves into a new phase of growth, having reached unicorn status late last year following its most recent Series E funding. Bauman is an accomplished corporate attorney with years of experience in both the US and Europe working at leading international law firms and investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. He was most recently Partner and Head of European Strategic Relations at Goodwin, a global law firm serving the technology-driven economy, of which Matillion is a client.