Ozone – the digital advertising business founded by four of the UK’s leading publishers – has announced a number of changes across the organisation as it accelerates the growth of its audience platform business. Ozone has refocused a number of commercial roles, all reporting to Chief Revenue Officer, Craig Tuck. Emma Cranston becomes Senior Director of Advertising overseeing agency sales and client services, while Jacque Chadwick takes on an expanded remit working across Ozone’s brand and agency commercial partnerships. These changes have also seen Jhan Hancock-Rushton take on the new role of Strategy & Client Director, while Frances Lazenby is promoted to Strategic Solutions Director. During the remainder of 2025, Ozone expects to hire a further 24 new hires into the business – representing 20% growth in headcount.
Mediaworks has appointed Kevin Telford to its Executive Board as a non-executive director. A recognised authority in AI and data-led innovation, Telford has held senior roles at Transunion (Callcredit), Thoughtworks, Acxiom and partnered with many global brands. A published co-author and keynote speaker, he was also named among the DataIQ Top 100 for his leadership in responsible data. In his role at Mediaworks, Telford will focus on how the agency can lead in the strategic adoption and practical application of AI, with the aim of delivering improved results and commercial savings for clients.
MRM UK, an agency specialising in CRM, CX and Creative Commerce, has announced the promotion of James Thorley to Executive Creative Director, effective immediately. Thorley is a seasoned creative leader with over 20 years of experience and a portfolio of award-winning work across both B2C and B2B sectors. He was previously Group Creative Director at the agency. In his new role, he will lead MRM UK’s creative department. The promotion follows the recent appointment of Nick Handel as CEO of MRM UK, underscoring the agency’s renewed focus on transformative, collaborative leadership across disciplines.
Sparteo, a suite of data-driven advertising technologies powered by AI, has appointed Louis-Etienne Balleydier as its new Chief Legal Officer. Formerly Group General Counsel at Mirakl, Balleydier joins Sparteo with the mission of scaling and enhancing Sparteo’s legal operations in France and internationally to support its next phase of growth. He will also be joining the adtech firm’s Executive Committee. Balleydier brings extensive experience in scale-ups, tech, and innovation to the role. Prior to joining Sparteo, he held several senior legal positions, including Group General Counsel at Mirakl, Senior Legal Counsel at SAP. He has also worked as a specialist intellectual property attorney.
Squared.io has appointed Daryl Goodman-Gordon as Vice President of Sales. He will focus on driving the company’s sales initiatives as it embarks on its next phase of growth. In his new role, Goodman-Gordon will lead the build-out of Squared.io’s sales strategy, ensuring the business has the necessary capabilities in place to support its ambitious scaling efforts and long-term objectives. Reporting directly to CEO David Midgley, Goodman-Gordon will also oversee relationships with enterprise advertisers, global network agencies, independent digital agencies and major direct brand clients. He joins from Clinch, where he led enterprise sales across EMEA and worked closely with partners such as Dentsu. His experience also includes senior sales roles at DoubleVerify, InMobi, MyThings, and Criteo.
Independent holding company Project, an alliance of global creative agencies, has appointed three key executives to newly expanded roles. The new positions include naming Marc Cracco as Project’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), Ed Scott as Project’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Lionel Curt as Managing Director, Project EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). Cracco, a U.S. Navy veteran, has spent the past eight years as Chief Technology Officer at Wondersauce. In his expanded role at Project, Cracco will spearhead AI integration across its agencies and client portfolio. Scott, Chief Operating Officer of Project agency GPJ, Scott will lead operational excellence across the global network while continuing his leadership at GPJ. Curt, founder and CEO of Paris-based Project agency MNSTR, has been appointed the first Managing Director of Project EMEA. He will lead the network’s strategic expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. With a strong track record in building agencies and elevating brand visibility, Curt is well-suited for this expanded leadership role.
Performance media agency Roast has announced a key restructure of its Organic department, introducing two specialised leadership roles. In recognition of their expertise, leadership, and contributions to Roast’s growth, Mark Stanford-Janes has been promoted to Organic Performance Lead (Technical) and Aimee Metcalf to Organic Performance Lead (Content). Both will report into the Head of Organic Performance and play a crucial role in shaping the future of the agency’s Organic service. Stanford-Janes, who has been at the agency for almost four years, will oversee all aspects of Roast’s technical SEO offering. Metcalf, who has worked at ROAST since 2020, will spearhead the growth and quality of the agency’s content offering, managing everything from team development to content innovation and performance.
Sid Lee Sport has announced two major leadership promotions, and a new hire within its strategy team. Mike Grumbridge, formerly the Group Account Director, steps into the role of Managing Director (MD), while Rory Natkiel, previously Head of Strategy, becomes the agency’s new Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). In his capacity as MD, Grumbridge will be responsible for Sid Lee Sport’s day-to-day operations, ensuring exceptional client delivery and fostering a culture of creativity. As CSO, Natkiel will oversee Sid Lee Sport’s global strategic direction, ensuring it delivers innovative solutions to complex client problems by combining brand planning, CX, analytics, and marketing effectiveness principles with the AEV approaches typical of the sports sector.
Operational machine learning (ML) and performance advertising company Moloco has announced the appointment of Ned Samuelson as Global Head of Business, Moloco Commerce Media. In this role, Samuelson will focus on expanding Moloco’s retail business and collaborating with customers to grow and optimise their commerce advertising. He will lead global growth efforts, overseeing teams dedicated to business development, customer experience, strategy, and operations. Over his 12-year career at Criteo, Samuelson built and led commercial teams focused on helping clients achieve measurable growth. At Moloco, he aims to help retailers and marketplaces worldwide unlock incremental revenue through best-in-class machine learning via the Moloco platform. Samuelson will lead a team focused on Moloco Commerce Media, an enterprise software solution that empowers retailers and marketplaces to build and grow their own advertising businesses.
Buddy Media has appointed Nik Marinkovic as its first-ever Creative Director. Marinkovic will oversee and reinforce the agency’s creative output, focusing on leading the creative vision across Buddy Media’s portfolio and ensuring this aligns with wider strategic and business objectives across all clients. Prior to his role at Buddy Media, he served as Edelman UK’s first-ever Social Creative Director. Before this, he held positions at The Game, including Associate Creative Director and Social Creative Lead, where he worked on activating campaigns at Coachella, Cannes Film Festival, CES, and Art Basel for BMW. a&o Hostels have announced the appointment of Thomas Hertkorn as the Head of Online Marketing, with the expert in performance and data-based strategies returning to the company after five years to take up his former position. Thomas, 40, is once again responsible for the digital marketing strategy of Europe’s largest budget group. The marketing specialist is returning to a&o Hostels having previously been responsible for online brand communications between 2017 and 2020. Hertkorn started his career at the Berlin digital agency Peak Ace and has held several positions in various B2C and B2B markets, most recently as Head of Sales and Lead AI Innovations.
