RAAS LAB expands team with four strategic hires
RAAS LAB, a platform designed to deliver real-time Relevance and meaningful results for advertisers, has announced four new hires as part of its continued growth strategy. Betty Underwood joins as Marketing Lead, Serena Noble as Senior Sales Manager, Matthew Platt as Sales Director and Gemma Cornick as Client Success Manager.
Betty Underwood takes on the role of Marketing Lead to steer the business’s strategy to scale brand growth and market presence. Formerly the UK Marketing Manager at Seedtag, Underwood will focus on building a modern, high-impact marketing function to support commercial growth and create standout opportunities for clients and partners.
Joining her from Seedtag is Matthew Platt, who, as Sales Director, will lead efforts to expand RAAS LAB’s footprint with agencies. Bringing expertise from previous senior business development roles, including at OpenX and Sizmek, Platt will leverage his extensive network to drive revenue and increase campaign volume across holdco clients.
Serena Noble will work with Platt as Senior Sales Manager. Previously Premium Programmatic Account Manager at Future PLC, Noble will focus on the large and expanding portfolio of independent agencies across London..
To bolster campaign execution, Gemma Cornick joins from Essencemediacom as Client Success Manager. Drawing on her experience as Programmatic Account Director, Cornick will deliver exceptional campaign management built on trusted client partnerships.
UniLED Software appoints Jill Rothenhauser to lead client service and partnerships in the U.S.
UniLED Software has named Jill Rothenhauser as head of partnerships for its U.S. operations. Based in Detroit and reporting directly to CEO Ben Zloof, Rothenhauser’s appointment reinforces the third-party verification provider’s commitment to deliver its ambitious growth and further global expansion plans.
In this newly created role, she will support UniLED’s senior leadership team with managing, and strengthening, the company’s client and partnership relationships state-side. She will also be responsible for supporting UniLED to scale its U.S. presence, building on its existing clients portfolio that includes Dentsu, Vistar Media, Rapport, MX, CLIQSTREET MEDIA and Quan Media Group.
PHA hires SVP to lead its corporate work
The PHA Group has appointed Alice Lamb to lead its Corporate team and client portfolio, which includes Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I, So Energy, Numan, and Virgin Experience Days.
With 20 years’ PR experience across both the public and private sectors, Lamb has counselled FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies as well as emerging brands and purpose-led organisations. A specialist in corporate reputation and issues-led communications, she helps clients anticipate risk, counter misinformation, and make confident, reputation-enhancing decisions that deliver tangible business impact.
Lamb has deep expertise in the FMCG and retails sectors, and in sustainability having qualified in Sustainable Business Management through the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Prior to PHA she held senior corporate roles at Weber Shandwick and Zeno Group where she advised on a broad portfolio of clients including Coca-Cola, P&G, Kerry Dairy, Unilever, NSF International, Nespresso, Iceland Foods and Moto Hospitality.
Ward Hadaway appoints Director of Marketing to support growth strategy
Top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway has appointed Dale Gorley as Director of Marketing, a newly created role focused on strengthening the firm’s market position and supporting its long-term growth plans.
Gorley joins from Womble Bond Dickinson, where he spent more than a decade in senior marketing roles, most recently leading marketing activity across the UK and internationally. Based in Ward Hadaway’s Newcastle office, he will work closely with managing partner Steven Petrie and the wider leadership team to develop a strategic, insight-led marketing function aligned to the firm’s commercial priorities.
His remit includes raising the firm’s visibility across key regions and sectors, and ensuring marketing makes a measurable contribution to business performance. He will also focus on bringing marketing and business development closer together, while building the team and refining systems and processes.
Gorley brings experience across brand development, digital transformation, CRM implementation and team leadership. In his previous role, he supported a period of organisational change including mergers, international expansion and a major brand refresh.
SocialChain appoints Sophie Berman as Head of Influencer
Integrated social agency SocialChain has appointed Sophie Berman as Head of Influencer, as the business accelerates the expansion of its creator marketing capabilities and scales its end-to-end influencer offering.
Berman joins from Havas Play UK where she was head of talent and influencer, and brings extensive experience across both agency and in-house roles in the UK, EU and US markets. In her new role, Berman will report to CEO Jacinta Faul and lead SocialChain’s CreatorChain offering, the agency’s end-to-end creator marketing engine which has scaled extensively in the past year following the business’s acquisition and subsequent integration of the Fifth from News UK in April 2025.
As Head of Influencer, Berman will be responsible for scaling SocialChain’s influencer marketing proposition, driving commercial growth, and evolving the agency’s capabilities across creator strategy, talent and partnerships. She will also oversee the development of operational tools and processes to deliver best-in-class influencer campaigns at scale, while leading and growing a high-performing team.
Alongside this, Berman will work closely with SocialChain’s creative, strategy and client services teams to integrate influencer and creator marketing into broader social-first strategies, ensuring measurable impact across the full marketing funnel.
Tom Hufton joins Alvarez & Marsal’s growing Reputation Advisory team
Tom Hufton has joined Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) as a Senior Director in the firm’s new Reputation Advisory practice, based in London. He supports public companies and private equity backed businesses on complex, multi-stakeholder communications – helping boards, executive teams and investors navigate high-stakes situations where financial, operational and reputational issues intersect.
Mr Hufton brings 15 years of international experience advising companies, lenders and investors on complex stakeholder management, with deep expertise in capital markets communications and across consumer sectors. He joins from FTI Consulting, where he led restructuring communications, representing both corporates and lenders. He has advised businesses in the retail, leisure, hospitality and consumer goods sectors through M&A, carve-outs, refinancing, and debt issuances, as well as financial and operational restructuring.
TripleLift appoints Timothy Jasionowski as CPTO and adds Benjamin Felix to leadership team
TripleLift, the Creative SSP powered by TL Spark, has announced the appointments of Timothy Jasionowski as Chief Product and Technology Officer and Benjamin Felix as Chief Marketing Officer, further strengthening its leadership team as the company scales its next phase of growth.
Following the recent launch of TL Spark, TripleLift’s coordinated intelligence layer, the company is continuing to invest in a more connected, outcome-driven approach to advertising. =
Jasionowski joins TripleLift with nearly three decades of experience building and scaling transformative transactional ecosystems in multiple industries, including programmatic advertising, telecommunications, travel distribution, and enterprise software. In his new role, he will oversee TripleLift’s global product management, engineering, data science, and technology operations organisations and advance the company’s offerings while delivering measurable outcomes for publishers and advertisers.
Felix joins TripleLift as Chief Marketing Officer, where he will lead the company’s go-to-market efforts and brand positioning. He brings extensive experience across marketing, revenue, and growth strategy, having most recently served as President at Decision Counsel. At TripleLift, Felix will focus on scaling the rollout of the company’s end-to-end platform and intelligence layer, strengthening engagement with advertisers and partners, and increasing brand visibility.
RAPP UK appoints Jason Cacarina as Executive Creative Director
RAPP UK has appointed Jason Cascarina as Executive Creative Director, a pivotal leadership role that reinforces the agency’s commitment to driving growth through precision and empathy at scale.
Heading up a diverse team of designers, conceptual creatives, writers, creative engineers and motion graphic artists, Cascarina will join the UK Senior Leadership Team while also working closely with the global creative leadership led by Global Chief Creative Officer, Troy Hitch.
In his new role, Cascarina will help deliver on RAPP’s proposition of delivering growth at scale through precision and empathy, ensuring every creative touchpoint is measurable, meaningful and drives impact for clients. He will also focus on evolving the creative department to fully leverage RAPP’s world-class data and AI capabilities, ensuring creativity remains the ultimate differentiator in an increasingly automated world.
Cascarina’s career spans leading agencies including FCB and Ogilvy, as well as customer-focused agencies Elvis, Weapon7 and Proximity, which later merged with RAPP.
Joseph Lee joins Sky Media as Head of Programmatic Strategy
Sky Media has appointed Joseph Lee as Head of Programmatic Strategy, further strengthening its leadership team as the business continues to evolve its offering for advertisers. Lee joins from Medialab Group. He brings his extensive experience in digital advertising, partnerships, and data-led strategy, with a strong track record of delivering growth and innovation.
In his new role, Lee will also work to ensure that, as the market becomes more automated, the core strengths of TV, quality, context and attention, are more effectively understood and activated.
Barrows Connected Store lands Kathryn Mazza and Becca Bocci for senior roles
Barrows Connected Store, a global leader in connected retail experiences, today announced the appointment of Kathryn Mazza as Chief Growth Officer, North America, effective May 1, 2026, marking a significant strategic hire as competition for senior talent intensifies across the retail media and retail technology landscape.
Mazza will lead Barrows Connected Store’s North America growth strategy, accelerating new business, and strengthening trade relationships. Widely regarded as one of the most connected and respected leaders in retail media, Mazza joins Barrows Connected Store following a highly competitive recruitment process, with multiple retail media, retail technology, and transformation companies pursuing her for senior leadership roles. Her appointment underscores Barrows Connected Store’s continued investment in top-tier talent to support its rapid expansion in North America. Mazza brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across retail, commerce, and omnichannel growth, with deep expertise in retail media, marketing analytics, and revenue monetization.
In her new role as Chief Growth Officer, Mazza will drive strategic planning and market expansion across North America, accelerate new business and partnership opportunities and strengthen relationships with key retailers, brands, and industry stakeholders
Barrows Connected Store, has also appointed Becca Bocci as Head of Data and Insights, North America. BCS powers intelligent in-store environments that enable real-time campaign activation, optimization, and measurement.
Bocci brings more than a decade of experience spanning early work at Triad, one of the pioneers in retail media, to most recently serving as a Senior Data Scientist at Dynata and Nielsen.
At BCS, Bocci will advance innovation across in-store analytics, with a focus on the metrics that matter most to brands, agencies and retailers. She will elevate the quality and consistency of client reporting and serve as a senior advisor to brands and retail partners on Connected Store performance. Bocci will also play a key role in evolving BCS’s measurement approach, ensuring methodologies are rigorous, transparent and aligned with industry standards while partnering closely with product, engineering, and data science teams to shape future capabilities.
In addition, Bocci will represent Barrows Connected Store in the marketplace as a thought leader in retail media measurement, contributing to industry dialogue and helping define best practices for in-store analytics.
Lucy Aitken appointed as Pumpkin’s Content Director
Pumpkin, the B2B PR agency for marketing, creative and digital agencies, announces the appointment of Lucy Aitken, former Head of Content for LIONS Intelligence at Cannes Lions.
Aitken will lead Pumpkin’s expanded commercial content offering, joining the newly-appointed Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Joe Stubbs, in Pumpkin’s senior leadership team. Working alongside Joe, she will translate client strategy into commercially-led content and growth programmes. She will report to Sarah Owen, Founder and CEO.
With a prominent editorial presence in the industry, built over two decades, in senior positions at LIONS, WARC, Contagious and Campaign, Lucy will now lead the agency’s content offering. Working across Pumpkin’s editorial capabilities, she will develop and oversee content strategy – including thought leadership, media content, brand storytelling and awards strategy.
