Movers & Shakers: Publicis Media, Mobfox, SixSpeed, Salmon and IAB Europe

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 1 June 2017
Publicis Media Unveils ‘Transformation Board’

Global ad agency Publicis Media has announced the creation of a ‘next generation’ board aimed at helping the network achieve its medium and long-term goals for transformation, talent and employee engagement. The board, made up of future leaders from across the agency, will also seek to bridge the gap between current and future leadership.

“Our next generation of leaders are the future of this company,” said Steve King, chief executive of Publicis Media. “It is vital that they play a significant role in creating Publicis Media’s future, from both a talent and client perspective. The launch of the next generation board is about challenging and disrupting how we currently do things, to the benefit of all stakeholders.”

The ‘transformation board’ will be made up of local boards across 15 markets, including the US, UK, Nordics, India, Russia, Australia and China, each comprising of eight to 15 employees, chosen for their diverse skill sets as well as success in their field.

Representatives from each local board will meet quarterly to discuss global objectives, with the first meeting, which took place earlier this month, proposing the use of new mobile technologies to improve communications across the agency’s global talent.

Gil Klein Promoted to Managing Director for Mobfox
Global media company Matomy has named Gil Klein as the new managing director of Mobfox, the firm’s data-driven mobile SSP and ad exchange. Formerly the executive vice president of media and a member of the executive management team, the newly-created position will make Klein responsible for leading the platform as the company undergoes a strategic restructuring to focus on core activities.

Klein joined Matomy, then called Xtend Media, in 2008, and has held a number of positions in the company including director of media buying and senior vice president of advertisers. In addition to these roles, he assisted with several of the company’s acquisitions, including the 2014 purchase of Mobfox, and has led all business aspects of Mobfox over the last two years.

“After spearheading Matomy’s media activities and watching Mobfox grow to become one of the leading solutions in the market following its acquisitions, I’m very excited to take on the role of Mobfox managing director,” said Klein. “Mobfox’s future is bright – this year specifically, we’re offering advanced tools and a full-stack solution for developers to support the growing demand from our advertiser and publisher partners.”

New Blood for Creative and Accounts at SixSpeed
Integrated creative and brand experience agency SixSpeed has made two new appointments aimed at strengthening its team for the future, with Anthony DiNicola joining as creative director and Heidi Lee coming onboard as an account director.

DiNicola has held senior creative roles at Fallon, Carmichael Lynch and Olson, and has over 15 years of agency experience, having worked on a diverse portfolio of brands including Harley Davidson, Jack Links, Arby’s and Orbit Gum. Lee comes to SixSpeed with more than seven years of digital marketing experience at Minneapolis agencies space150 and Olson, and has worked with clients incuding Buffalo Wild Wings, United Healthcare and Supercuts.

“Part of what attracted me to SixSpeed is the terrific company culture,” said DiNicola, “along with clients and projects that are inventive and up for breaking the mold.”

Naji El-Arifi Named Head of Innovation at Salmon
  Salmonhas hired Naji El-Arifi as its new head of innovation to work with clients including Audi, Argos, DFS and Habitat on futureproofing their digital offerings. El-Arifi has built an ‘Experience Lab’ at the cCommerce consultancy designed to showcase the latest advancements in digital retail, including Zero-UI, programmatic commerce and mixed reality.

“I’ve worked with a lot of exciting technologies in my time working in innovation, but this new role at Salmon provides something totally unique,” said El-Arifi. “Salmon has a clear vision: to be the boldest and most innovative in the eCommerce space, and this is something that I knew I really wanted to be part of.”

El-Arifi has previously held roles dealing with emerging technology and product development at Samsung, Somo and Nimbletank, and has worked alongside companies including Shop Direct Group, Lloyds Bank, BP and Kobalt, showing them how mobile and connected devices can solve industry problems.

IAB Europe Elects New board of Directors
Ahead of the organisations 11th annual Interact conference, the IAB Europe has elected its new board of directors, with members including Henk van Niekerk from AOL, Tony Evans of Facebook, Microsoft’s Axel Steinman, Thierry Geerts from Google and John Wittesaele of GroupM. Members from nine national IAB organisations are also on the board.

Newcomers include Rene Plug, chief strategy officer at Improve Digital and Neil Bowman, president of advertising technology for BBC Advertising, both serving as corporate directors, while new national IAB directors include Sebastiano Cappa from IAB Italy, Lucien Secereanu of IAB Romania and IAB Poland’s Wlodek Schmidt.

Constantine Kamaras from IAB Greece will serve as the chair of the executive committee, with Stuart Wilkinson, head of industry relations for EMEA at ComScore serving as vice chair. Nigel Gilbert, executive vice president of strategic development at AppNexus is the treasurer, while Thomas Duhr of BVDW and Wlodek Schmidt make up the rest of the executive committee.