VaynerMedia has appointed Marcus Krzastek as its first-ever President, International. Reporting directly to Chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk, Krzastek will oversee operations in EMEA and APAC, leading a team of nearly 600. Krzastek will look to continue accelerating VaynerMedia’s international expansion and operations, collaborating closely with regional Managing Directors Daisy Domenghini and Tim Lindley, who will report directly to him. Krzastek joined the company in 2009, most recently serving as President of The Sasha Group, where he drove a 30% revenue increase. Earlier in his career he served as Gary Vaynerchuk’s Chief of Staff.
Social agency Jungle Creations has appointed Ro Bocking as Marketing Director, David Greatbatch as Director of Growth, and Sedge Beswick as Strategic Advisor. Bocking will lead marketing efforts, driving brand growth and new business opportunities across the Jungle ecosystem. She will focus on elevating the agency’s market presence and showcasing its expertise. She previously led marketing at Brave Bison and SocialChain. Greatbatch will be responsible for expanding the agency client base and strengthening existing partnerships. He will lead growth strategies, collaborating with the marketing team to develop and execute communications plans, support client onboarding, and identify opportunities. He joins from his role as Chief Client Officer at ITG. Beswick will support Jungle’s growth, focusing on new business expansion, client marketing strategies, and commercial packaging and productisation. He is Founder and former CEO of Seen Connects. Bocking and Beswick will report to Melissa Chapman, CEO of Jungle, while Greatbatch reports to Jade Raad, Chief Growth Officer at The Wild by Jungle.
M&C Saatchi UK has appointed Gemma Knox to the newly created role of Group Managing Director and Global Client Lead. She steps into the dual position having joined the agency in September 2024 in a client leadership role. Reporting directly to UK Group CEO Jo Bacon, she will lead strategic initiatives and oversee client relationships on a global scale. Her responsibilities will include managing a team across different specialisms, driving business growth, and fuelling strategies to enhance the company’s reputation. Prior to rejoining M&C Saatchi, where she took up her first agency role in 2007, Knox was Global Brand and Strategy Director at Pandora. She has also worked at Vice Media’s creative agency, Virtue Worldwide, as well as Sunshine, 180 Amsterdam, and Karmarama.
The IPA has announced the appointment of Denise Turner as its new Media Research Director. Turner joins the IPA from Route, where she has been CEO since June 2022. She succeeds Belinda Beeftink, who retired at the end of 2024. Turner will lead the TouchPoints project, which has 75 industry subscribers and publishes an annual survey of consumer media habits. She will also be the IPA industry representative on all the industry media research currencies – ABC, Barb, JICMAIL, JICPOPs, JICREG, PAMCo, RAJAR, Route, and UKOM. Turner has worked in communications research for more than 30 years, working at agencies including BBH, Leo Burnett, Zenith, and Havas, before joining Newsworks as Director of Research and Insight for seven years until joining Route.
SheSays, a non-profit organisation championing gender equality in the creative industries, has promoted Mikaela Dragon and Ruby Norman-Curran, taking over the SheSays London presidency from Amy Dick. Dragon, a Creative and design Director, has been a member of SheSays for eight years. She has worked with a broad range of clients, both in-house and agencies, including Amazon and The United Nations and was WACL Talent Award Winner ’24. Ruby Norman-Curran is an award-winning writer, voiceover artist, and former Creative Director and has been part of SheSays for five years. She has worked at a range of celebrated agencies including Wieden+Kennedy, The&Partnership, Quiet Storm, Mr President and Droga5 and was included in the Top 50 influential Neurodivergent Women of the Year by Women Beyond the Box.
Eye-tracking technology company Lumen has announced Ben Dimond as its new Commercial Director, bringing over 16 years’ experience working within the advertising technology sector. Dimond joins from Playground XYZ, where he headed up the global attention analytics business. In his role at Lumen, he will take responsibility for the sales teams, overseeing the integration of Lumen’s Attention Measurement Products (LAMP) with agencies and advertisers across the UK and US.
Audion, a digital audio advertising company, has appointed Cyrine Chahed to the newly created role of UK Sales Manager. Chahed joins from Sky Media, where she work with clients, such as Publicis, to plan and optimise ad campaigns. At Audion, she is tasked with developing new business opportunities and enhancing collaborations with agencies and advertisers in the UK and across the EMEA region. The company has also promoted Elie Kauffmann from Industry Lead France and Sales Lead Belgium to Head of Sales, EMEA; appointed Nicolas Chrun as Global Programmatic Sales Manager in France, and been joined by Alexandra Marit as Sales Manager in Belgium.
Digital marketing collective The Casus Group – composed of AYKO and B2 Agency – has announced the addition of Andy Ingram to its team as Group Experience Design Director. He will lead of on all things design, working closely with clients and helping the business to create user-centric experiences that deliver results.
Quantum Metric, a digital analytics platform, has appointed Kate Whittington as Chief Customer Officer. She previously served as Chief Customer Officer at U.S. Bank, where she led the CX, UX, and customer analytics teams. Prior to that, she was a senior expert in retail analytics at McKinsey and a strategic leader at Target.
