Movers & Shakers: Deloitte Digital, King, Inneractive, Sublime Skinz and Sizmek

The mobile marketing industry is ever-changing, and that applies to the people as much as the technology. Movers & Shakers is a regular feature following the hottest hires in the industry, so you can keep track of whos joined which company, and what theyre doing there.

Movers and Shakers 18 May 2017
(Left to right) Ilicco Elia, Brian Ames, Desirée Tunstall, Andrew Buckman, Kees de Jong, Volker Hatz

Industry Veteran Ilicco Elia Joins Deloitte Digital
Deloitte Digital has hired mobile ad industry veteran Ilicco Elia away from his position at DigitasLBi to serve as head of mobile for the management consultancy, as it continues to strengthen its marketing services offering and expand its presence in the advertising and media sectors.

Elia joins Deloitte Digital after nearly six years serving as head of mobile at DigitasLBi, where he served as one of the UK marketing industry’s key mobile advocates. Prior to DigitasLBi, he held a number of roles at Thomas Reuters including global head of mobile for Reuters Media, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the industry by Media Guardian.

At Deloitte Digital, he will work alongside Olivier Binse, UK head of products and apps at the firm, to build on the company’s existing mobile offering and further connect its engineering, design and advisory services with a greater focus on mobile and cross-channel.

Deloitte is rumoured to be interested in expanding its digital division to include more traditional marketing services, leveraging its access to rich data and ability to work at scale to provide clients with a wider range of services. In 2016, Deloitte Digital purchased award-winning ad agency Heat, and it is reportedly exploring an acquisition of the Engine Group, which owns marketing service agencies including Mischief, WCRS and Partners Andrew Aldridge.

New President of Advertising Named at King
King, the leading interactive entertainment firm and creator of mobile game franchises including Candy Crush, Bubble Witch and Farm Heroes has poached Brian Ames, former director of revenue product strategy and analytics at Snapchat, to serve as the company’s new president of advertising.

Ames will help develop and scale the company’s advertising proposition, as well as being responsible for providing strategic leadership with oversight across the entire ad business including product, sales, marketing, strategy and operations. King boasts one of the world’s largest mobile gaming networks, with 342m monthly active users.

“Brian is an experienced and accomplished leader, and we are thrilled to have him join King to lead our advertising business,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of King. “We are committed to attracting the best talent in the industry to deliver an advertising platform which not only enhances our players’ in-game experience, but also delivers significant value to advertisers.”

Desirée Tunstall Named to Senior Position at Inneractive
Independent global mobile ad exchange Inneractive has promoted Desirée Tunstall to serve as vice president and general manager of North America, responsible for growing the team in the region, developing strategic partnerships and revenue opportunities with publishers, demand-side partners and agencies.

Tunstall was previously director of publisher development in North America for the firm, and has over 10 years of experience in business development, client relationship management and consulting in ad tech, having founded programmatic digital audio marketplace Verto Media and held roles at AppNexus.

“Desirée’s talent for building productive relationships, in-depth digital marketing experience, industry connections and strong leadership skills will help us meet our ambitious growth plans,” said Ziv Elul, CEO and founder at Inneractive. “She has the expertise and passion to take our US business to the next level.”

Sublime Skinz Appoints New EMEA Managing Director
Andrew Buckman is set to become the new managing director for EMEA at skin-based advertising provider Sublime Skinz, as the firm goes through rapid business growth following the launch of multiple ad formats and partnerships with several new publishers.

Buckman joins the firm from OpenX, where he was responsible for accelerating adoption of the advertising platform throughout the EMEA region, and has previously worked high-profile roles at Yahoo and Tradedoubler, building an extensive experience in the ad tech industry and leading multiple large-scale projects across the European market.

“Sublime Skinz takes a fresh approach to digital communication; delivering formats that pique audience attention without intruding on the user experience,” said Buckman. “I’m excited to be joining the company and immersing myself in this innovative ethos, and I look forward to consolidating Sublime Skinz’s current success as well as driving future developments across EMEA.”

Two Senior Appointments Made at Sizmek
Creative optimisation and data activation platform Sizmek has named two new senior hires, with digital ad industry veteran Volker Hatz joining as chief data officer and marketing expert Kees de Jong becoming general manager for Asia Pacific.

Hatz brings over 20 years of experience in IT and advertising technology to the firm. Prior to this role, he was global head of SAP XM DMP Solution at SAP Exchange Media, and he’s previously played key roles in creating ground-breaking technology aimed at bringing structure to data in digital advertising, including the first demand side advertising platform and the first real-time cookie-less targeting.

De Jong will oversee the Asia Pacific region, responsible for customer engagement, sales development and innovation, strategic planning, revenue growth and more. He has experience as a business builder in tech and service-based environments, having held senior management positions at Facilitate Digital (now Adslot) and Xaxis.