The mobile and digital marketing industry is ever-changing, and that applies to the people as much as the technology. Movers & Shakers is our monthly round-up of the hottest hires in the industry…
Vlachou to CEO at Broadband GenieUK price comparison site, Broadband Genie, has appointed Eliza Vlachou as its first CEO. Vlachou will lead a team from its headquarters in Cambridge. She was previously the Marketing Director at eCommerce fintech, Kuva. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the marketing and telecom sectors, with the majority spent in senior roles at TalkTalk, the UK’s fourth-largest broadband provider.
She joins the business as it enjoys a period of rapid growth, fuelled by an increased public appetite for saving money on their broadband and a rise in the telecoms affiliate market. Last year, it saw record revenues of £4.4m, while the number of consumers switching hit an annual high.
Broadband Genie, part of the digital marketing and publishing company, Genie Ventures, was the UK’s first broadband-only comparison site upon its launch in 2004. It was initially created to help households to move to the new technology as the country migrated away from dial-up internet. Advances in internet speed and fierce competition in the market mean Broadband Genie is now used by customers to compare hundreds of broadband contracts and switch to save money on their bills.
Vlachou said: “I’m excited to be joining the team at Broadband Genie and continuing its mission to become the website the nation visits to have its broadband questions answered, as well as helping people to switch – and save – as easily as possible. The internet is an essential service, and we will always fight for the consumer to make sure they can access it and get the fast speeds and low bills they deserve. I want to build upon Broadband Genie’s well-deserved reputation for excellence and increase our share of the affiliate market, working closer with providers.”
Canela Media appoints Gonzalez as CTOCanela Media, a female and minority-owned technology driven company delivering digital media experiences for the Latino community, has appointment Peter Gonzalez to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
In the role, Gonzalez will be responsible for leading Canela Media’s technology initiatives, including the development and execution of the company’s technical strategies. He will work closely with the executive team to enhance Canela Media’s digital infrastructure, optimize operational efficiencies, and advance the company’s position as a leader in digital media.
He brings over 25 years’ experience in broadcast media and entertainment to the role. Prior to joining Canela Media, he served as the Senior Vice President of the Media Technology team at WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Prior to that, he was Head of Technology for CNNMoney at Turner Broadcasting. He was also an integral part of the leadership team that executed the relaunch of CNBC.com during his tenure at NBC Universal/CNBC. Gonzalez’s career began at IBM, where he honed his passion for technology and innovation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Peter to Canela Media as our new CTO,” said Isabel Rafferty Zavala, Founder & CEO of Canela Media. “Peter joins Canela Media with a vast experience in developing innovative tech solutions and products for media and entertainment companies. His experience combined with our commitment to innovation and excellence is a perfect match to continue to elevate Canela Media’s product and technology offering.”Ahmed and Gransden take up creative roles at BBHBBH has appointed Selma Ahmed and Genevieve Gransden, the team behind EA Sports’ Midnight Ramadan League campaign, as Creative Directors. They first teamed up in 2014 at the creative agency Sunshine, moving to Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s London office two years later and then joining Adam&EveDDB in 2017. In their new roles at BBH, they will focus on leading creative ideas and development across pitches, and running creative on incoming clients for the business.
Among the brands the pair have worked on are booking.com, Lucozade, Peloton, H&M and John Lewis, for whom they created the 2020 Christmas ad ‘Give a Little Love’. They were also behind the acclaimed ‘WeThe15’ campaign for the International Paralympic Committee, which took home Silver in Film Craft at Cannes Lions, a D&AD Pencil and was named in Campaign’s top-15 film ads of the year in 2021.
Helen Rhodes, ECD, BBH said: “Gen and Selma do the type of work that we talk about all the time at BBH. Great ideas, that are beautifully crafted, and impact culture. But more than that, they are super warm and full of energy. They are collaborative, they elevate the work, and they bring people together across departments. They are modern creatives in all the best ways and I’m over the moon they’ve joined our flock.” Sodhi to head up measurement and analytics at WavemakerWavemaker has appointed Premjeet Sodhi as Global Head of Measurement and Analytics. Based in New York, Sodhi will join Wavemaker’s Consultancy team, reporting to Anna Hickey, Global Consultancy Lead. Sodhi will transition from his current role as Chief Strategy Officer at Wavemaker India.
As Global Head of Measurement and Analytics, Sodhi joins Wavemaker’s global consultancy, which supports clients in adopting future-proofed marketing practices to advance transformative growth, protect outcomes in the near-term, and create disproportionate advantage in the long-term. L’Oréal, Audible, Paramount and Cadbury are just a few of the household names that the consultancy has helped to adopt transformative practices to accelerate growth.
With over 20 years in marketing, Sodhi’s experience spans Ogilvy, Lintas Media Group and Mindshare. His roles at Wavemaker have included Chief Growth Officer, as well as Chief Strategy Officer, where he helped to build relationships with brands, leading-edge technology capabilities and define new ways of working in the continuously evolving media landscape.
“Premjeet brings an incredible combination of deep analytics skill with extensive experience in brand and comms strategy, making him an invaluable consultant for clients on their measurement strategies and the right means of determining the effectiveness of complex growth drivers across the consumer experience ecosystem,” said Hickey. “This appointment is a story of internal talent mobility and a great example of how we are building up our exceptional specialist leadership within the Global Consultancy.”
Separately, Wavemaker has promoted Kate Bradbury to the position of Deputy Managing Director, Wavemaker North. Working alongside Emma Slater, Regional Managing Director, she will be responsible for leading the client, planning and strategy teams, based in Manchester.
Bradbury has been with Wavemaker for 10 years. She has recently held the position of Managing Partner, leading the strategy and planning across all clients in the agency, most notably for Jet2 and Dr Oetker. In addition, she has been, and will continue to be, integral in helping to grow and develop Wavemaker’s strong agency culture, and to seamlessly integrate Wavemaker’s 75-strong Manchester team into the wider WPP community as it settles into its new campus home.
She said: “In the week I celebrate my 10th Wavemaker birthday I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking up the role of Wavemaker North’s Deputy Managing Director. Bringing together our brilliant planning and client leadership teams will see us better placed to support our clients and increase our ability to produce award-winning work. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together as one team. Wavemaker has always been an agency with a unique and enviable culture – I’m excited about the prospect of working more closely with Emma and the wider UK Executive Committee to shape and develop that for the future. I can’t wait to get started.”PMX hires Mulrenan as Chief Investment OfficerPublicis Media UK has promoted Dave Mulrenan to the role Chief Investment Officer of its trading and investment arm, PMX. Reporting into Steve Bignell, CEO of PMX UK, Mulrenan will focus on best-in-class investment strategy, operational and commercial excellence across media agencies, Zenith, Starcom and Spark Foundry. In this newly-created role, he will oversee all agency investment leads, and work closely with the wider PMX leadership team including John Heather (Chief Trading Officer); Rachel Hall (Head of PMX LIFT); and Sam Holt (MD of Performics). Mulrenan has a wealth of experience and knowledge in media investment, having held various roles within Zenith UK for almost 25 years, most recently as Chief Investment Officer.
“Having worked for many years at Zenith and been a major part of their journey to success, we’re excited for Dave to join the PMX team and bring his impressive skillset and experience to bear for all our clients,” said Bignell. “His great insight into the operations of our business, coupled with his broader industry knowledge, will help us deliver on our vision to be the essential partner to our clients, offering the very best media solutions and value to their business.”monday.com appoints its first CPTO monday.com, a work operating system (Work OS) where organisations of any size can create the tools and processes they need to manage every aspect of their work, has appointed Daniel Lereya as Chief Product and Technology Officer.
During his seven-year tenure at the firm, Lereya began by leading the R&D organisation and then expanded into overseeing the Product teams. His leadership strategies were behind the firm’s evolution into a Work OS; its ongoing expansion to a multiproduct company; and a multitude of key product elements, including monday AI.
In his new role, Lereya will focus on growing monday.com’s multi-product vision and operational efficiencies, while strengthening execution for company growth, including hiring across the Product, R&D, and Design teams. As he prioritises the building and scaling of his team of over 400, Lereya will invest in strategic hiring by increasing monday.com’s global presence in Warsaw, London, and the United States.
He said: “I’m thrilled to step into the Chief Product and Technology Officer role to lead the best-in-class technologists, product managers, product designers, and engineers at monday.com. Our approach to fostering monday.com’s unique process of product development has been deeply intentional. We combine multi-disciplinary teams where team members bring their talent and industry knowledge to work together to build the entire product, development, and design cycle in pursuit of our shared goals. I look forward to the next era of growth and further collaboration with my entire team.”
Campbell to head up digital at Bountiful CowIndependent media agency, Bountiful Cow, has hired Nadine Campbell as Head of Digital. Reporting to Chief Executive Adam Foley, Campbell will be responsible for driving excellence across all digital channels.
Prior to joining Bountiful Cow, Campbell founded The Digital Helpdesk Group and worked for a range of Group M and Omnicom agencies, including Wavemaker, MediaCom, Mindshare and Manning Gottlieb OMD, as well as a stint client-side at Samsung.
During this time, she worked across a number of high-profile accounts, including Sky Group, Huawei, Samsung, Unilever, Ford, Britvic, and John Lewis. Campbell also founded ACE Entrepreneurs, a membership network that champions diverse entrepreneurs, and became the first diverse female director at the global accelerator, the Founder Institute London.
She said: “I am thrilled to join the talented team at Bountiful Cow and excited to get to work with their start-up and challenger brands. I believe that digital media presents immense potential for innovative and disruptive marketing strategies, and I am keen to leverage cutting-edge techniques and technologies that will make a lasting impact on our clients’ business success.”
InMobi Commerce hires RapaportInMobi, which provides content, monetization, and marketing technologies has hired Dan Rapaport as Vice President of Product for InMobi Commerce, an ad tech technology platform for retailers and eCommerce firms.
He brings over two decades of product management experience to the role. Prior to InMobi, he held key positions at companies including PubMatic, Yahoo, and AdKnowledge. Most recently, he served as the Vice President of Product, Ads & Retail Media at Firework, which provides livestream and video commerce solutions for brands, retailers, and publishers. He holds an MBA and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford, as well as a bachelor’s degree in economics from U.C. Berkeley.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dan to InMobi,” said Jimit Doshi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, InMobi Commerce. “His experience as a product manager, and deep understanding of the ad tech and retail media landscape, positions him perfectly to drive our growth and innovation. Dan’s addition to our team will further strengthen our ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions to our customers and allow us to inspire product discovery through InMobi Commerce’s solutions.”
Vermeulen takes Strategic Advisor role at CovaticCovatic, which has developed a privacy-first audience targeting solution, has appointed Frans V, in a move to strengthen the company’s presence in the US.
Vermeulen brings almost 25 years’ experience in building and growing media, technology, and data companies to Covatic. In this role, he will focus on corporate development in the US market, growing the company’s presence through sales and market strategy, and translating customer needs into scalable product roadmaps and partnerships.
Throughout his career, Vermeulen has held several leadership positions with a key focus on business strategy for growth and development. He has worked with companies such as TransUnion, TruOptik, Comcast, FreeWheel, aCerno, Cendant, and DoubleClick, in areas spanning sales and GTM strategy, SaaS/DaaS business models, product management, product strategy, corporate development, and global expansion. Vermeulen graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Political Science and Marketing, and received his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.
He said: “I have always been passionate about building and scaling technology and data companies in the media industry, so working with Covatic really feels like the culmination of my work and passions. Comcast’s investment in Covatic’s Series A funding round is a huge validation of its potential and mission. Now is the time to equip the ever-changing digital ecosystem with innovative solutions to reach high-value target audiences and generate new revenue. Covatic’s technology delivers on what businesses need and answers the challenges of tomorrow, and I’m excited to be joining its global expansion.”
Covatic recently raised $5m in a Series A funding round, led by VC firm Praetura Ventures and including investment from Comcast in the US. The UK-founded company joined the Philadelphia-based Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator initiative in 2020; successfully making it through the program with the mentorship and business development support of senior executives at Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky.
Ahamed heads to GrowthOps AsiaMarketing transformation agency, GrowthOps Asia, has appointed Arshad Ahamed to the role of Regional Director of Media and Brand Strategy. With a track record of excellence and industry recognition, he will bring his creative prowess and strategic expertise to spearhead the agency’s operations. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Ahamed will report to Chris Greenough, General Manager of GrowthOps Asia (Malaysia). His appointment marks a significant milestone for GrowthOps Asia as it continues to expand its leadership team. He brings over 15 years’ experience to the role, having worked in multinational agencies and corporations in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bahrain, and Sri Lanka. Throughout his career, he has held numerous strategic leadership roles, including Senior Strategic Planner at J. Walter Thompson (now Wunderman Thompson), where he was responsible for strategic planning across various sectors including FMCG, Banking, F&B, and Telecommunications. Following this, he joined the innovation team of MAS Bodyline as a Business Entrepreneur, and later co-founded the digital marcom consultancy, Innovation Quotient, where he served as Head of Strategy, Planning & Insight. He subsequently joined GSK Pharmaceuticals Sri Lanka as Manager Digital Transformation, and then took on the role of Portfolio Marketing Manager for Malaysia and Indonesia GSK APAC. His most recent position before joining GrowthOps Asia was as Strategy Director at GroupM Sri Lanka.He said: “I am excited to join GrowthOps, an agency recognised for its comprehensive digital solutions and expertise across the entire marketing landscape. The regional presence, diverse talent pool, and integrated suite of services make GrowthOps the perfect platform for growth and evolving in this dynamic industry. I look forward to the journey ahead.”Wood takes up Chief Research Officer role at iSpotTV measurement company, iSpot, has hired Leslie Wood as its Chief Research Officer. In this role, Wood will lead new currency initiatives across linear and streaming and oversee the data science department responsible for always-on TV and video measurement products used by more than 600 brands, including 40 of TV’s top 50 advertisers.Wood comes to iSpot after a long-time partnership at Media Trust and Leslie Wood Research, where she spearheaded research into internet reach and frequency, market mix modelling, radio listening patterns and TV reach optimization, among other industry flashpoints for major advertisers. A multi-decade veteran with a PHD in machine learning, Wood is credited with accelerating innovation in brand measurement, notably for her tenure as Chief Data Officer for NCSolutions (formerly Nielsen Catalina), where she spent over a decade developing new approaches to using data for incremental measurement and targeting, and oversaw innovation for all NCS products.In her new role at iSpot, Wood will drive the development of products, solutions and methodologies that underpin iSpot’s cross-platform measurement suite, as well as bring an unrivalled and innovative approach to currency measurement.She said: “My passion for decades has been empowering consumer brands with better measurement and data science to deliver greater return on investments that can deliver better products and services for everyday people. Putting my passions to work for iSpot gives me an opportunity not just to innovate at the measurement platform of choice for brands, but to help ensure the very same metrics brands use to justify, optimize TV investments can also be the metrics they transact upon.”Wood was just awarded the 2023 American Marketing Association’s prestigious Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Award for her achievements helping brands understand the business and brand impact of advertising. She is the first woman in 30 years, and only the second woman in 80 years to receive this award. Past winners of the award include George Gallup and David Ogilvy.
Adludio hires Simons as Interim CEORichard Simons has been appointed Interim CEO of Adludio, the AI-powered, attention-led and data-driven mobile advertising platform, as Paul Coggins steps down after nine years at the helm.
In March, Adludio secured a significant follow-on investment from its lead investor Mercia and others which is enabling the business to capitalise on its rapid growth in the US, as well as to launch an AI platform for mobile advertising. This will fully automate many of its processes and pave the way to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, in addition to the traditional Managed Service proposition for customers.
Simons said: “Paul [Coggins] has been instrumental to the growth and global success of Adludio. As we continue to build on this, the business is in a strong position for the launch of our new platform. We wish Paul all the best in his future endeavours.”
Other moves:Data cloud company, Snowflake, has appointed James Petter as VP of EMEA Sales. He will be responsible for leading the Snowflake EMEA team to drive business growth, land new customers, and ensure collaboration and innovation across Snowflake’s Data Cloud ecosystem. He brings over 25 years’ experience in senior sales positions to the role. Most recently, he spent over eight years at Pure Storage, driving increased revenues across EMEA, Latin America and APAC. Prior to this, he spent 11 years at EMC, and a further four years at Cisco. Petter also served in the British Army for four years before joining the enterprise tech industry.
Digital marketing agency, Modo25, has announced three new hires. Ioana Dobos rejoins the agency as a Performance Marketing Manager, specialising in Affiliates Management, after previously working at the agency in 2021. Prior to returning to Modo25, Dobos previously held the role of Affiliate Manager at AWIN and her extensive knowledge and experience will contribute significantly to the agency’s affiliate marketing strategies, ensuring continued growth and success for clients. Charlie White joins the team as a Junior Data Analyst, leveraging his prior role as a Data Associate at Merkle/Dentsu. As part of his role, he will be responsible for cleaning and manipulating data from various digital platforms and channels, maintaining, and enhancing Modo25’s AI-reporting platform,ASK BOSCO. Finally, Modo25 welcomes Abbie Hooton as a Junior Paid Media Marketing Executive. Hooton will be responsible for supporting the paid search, paid social, and affiliate marketing efforts.
Optera, which offers ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) and carbon management software, has announced several new hires. Megan Dunne joins the company as Vice President of Finance, while Derek Kuhl takes up the role of Vice President of Sales. Dunne brings to Optera her decades of experience building finance functions and guiding financial and operational strategy for startup and pre-IPO companies, most recently as VP of Finance at Knock. Kuhl joins Optera with nearly 25 years of senior leadership experience in sales and marketing at technology companies such as Spotify, Google and General Assembly. Optera has also promoted Nancy Schoemann to Senior Vice President, Operations; Katie Oakes to Vice President, Marketing; Alekhya Reddy to Vice President, Product; and Ilya Sukhanov to Vice President, Engineering. Last year, Optera quadrupled its customers and tracked more than 225m metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent across 84,000 locations, including $187bn in its customers’ supply chain spend.
Fyllo, which provides contextual targeting solutions combined with audience data, has promoted Jeff Ragovin from CCO to President. As President, he will continue to deliver advanced data and media solutions for traditional brands and highly regulated industries, overseeing the expansion of Fyllo’s solution that combines user targeting with contextual audience extension to deliver a future-proofed model for driving advertising performance in a privacy-compliant environment. Ragovin is an industry veteran known for his ability to lead and scale businesses. As co-founder of Buddy Media, he played a crucial role in growing the company from a startup to the world’s largest enterprise social marketing software, which was acquired by Salesforce for $745m in 2012.
Media trading company, Astus Group, has opened an office in India, and appointed Sparsh Ganguli to run it, as India Head. Ganguli has over 25 years’ experience working for agencies and media houses including Star, Sony and BAG Films. Originally founded in London in 2003, alongside the Indian office, Astus has a presence in 20 countries, with over 300 client, trading over $400m annually. It works with advertisers in the FMCG, Airlines, Automotive, Telecoms, Tourism, Food & Beverage, Hotels, Events/Hospitality, Electronic Goods, Entertainment, Education and Charity sectors.
B2B-focused marketing-as-a-service (MaaS) firm, 2X has appointed Seth Hutchings as its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). Before joining 2X, Hutchings held key leadership roles in organizations including Merkle, Dentsu, and Wavemaker. Most recently, he was VP of Marketing Strategy and Advisory at Blend360, a global data, analytics, and talent solutions provider for Fortune 500 companies. While at Blend360, Hutchings created global go-to-market (GTM) strategies for multiple clients that drove over $200M in incremental revenue impact.
Strategic insight and customer analytics firm, Strat7, has announced several key promotions to support its growth strategy. Peter Kneale, currently Group MD of Strat7 Incite, has been appointed Strategy Director, Strat7. Pranay Jeyachandran will succeed Kneale as Group MD of Strat7 Incite. Lizzie Eckardt has been promoted to Managing Director of Strat7 Incite UK. She will also continue to lead the company’s global health division. Kevin Waters, currently MD of Strat7 Incite USA, also takes on the role of President, Strat7 USA. In this role, he will support the next phase of growth and investment in the US market. Finally, Robbie Stewart has been appointed Group Operations Director, Strat7. He will leverage the group’s scale and technology to ensure enterprise clients benefit from the agility of specialist teams, with the support of a global platform.
XY Retail, which provides omnichannel retail solutions, has appointed Alberto Riva as Chief Revenue Officer and Daniele Nizzero as Director of Solution Strategy, EMEA, to meet rising demand for XY Retail’s headless unified commerce platform. In his new role, Riva will be responsible for overseeing sales and strategic partnership efforts, helping to drive the company’s worldwide growth and adoption. He founded Fortech in 1993, where he championed global expansion efforts and collaborated with prestigious retailers. After selling Fortech to Micros, Riva assumed the role of Managing Director for the Micros Retail Business in EMEA, later joining Oracle to play a key role in the global growth of Xstore. Nizzero joined Micros in 2008 and played a pivotal role in the sales and implementation of Xstore across Europe. At XY Retail, he will lead and manage the solution strategy and consulting team in the EMEA region, developing and reinforcing relationships with customers and partners.
Change enablement firm, CDS, has hired Dom Baker as its Head of Innovation. He joins the firm with a creative career spanning design, customer experience, and production roles, including 15 years in innovation-focused positions. Most recently innovation director for a range of household brands, he has created and run successful programmes for some of the world’s best-known organisations, including Public Health England, Jaguar Land Rover, Google, NatWest, the Royal Navy, the BBC, and Transport for London. CDS enables change across four key disciplines – experience, operations, infrastructure and business process outsourcing. Clients include The Cabinet Office and Home Office, as well as private sector clients in regulated markets such as financial services, healthcare and education.
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