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

FreeWheel turns to Whitticom to lead on product
Jon Whitticom has been appointed chief product officer at Comcast’s FreeWheel. Reporting to general manager Dave Clark, he will oversee and define product vision, strategy, design and development and will lead FreeWheel’s global product team.

Whitticom joins FreeWheel from WPP’s GroupM, where he was most recently executive vice president of products for [m]Platform. In that role, he led product teams responsible for developing data management and marketing planning and trading platforms, in addition to creating partnerships with tech companies, to drive growth for GroupM and its clients.

Prior to GroupM, he was at another WPP firm in the shape of Xaxis. As vice president of global product development, he was responsible for driving Xaxis’s global data management strategy and leading the creation of its DMP and analytics platforms. Whitticom has also launched several startups including digital marketing and eCommerce platform Charity Folks.

“FreeWheel’s track record of removing friction from the video marketplace and empowering publishers to better monetise content while also helping advertisers to more effectively engage consumers puts it in a unique position to address the industry’s needs,” Whitticom said. “I’m excited to work with Dave and the FreeWheel team to address advertisers’ demand for access to premium video and more sophisticated, data-driven TV activation capabilities.”

Pogue and Lenois join VaynerMedia executive team
VaynerMedia has hired Wanda Pogue as chief strategy officer and Rob Lenois as chief creative officer. Both will report to chief executive officer and co-founder Gary Vaynerchuk.

Pogue will oversee strategy across the agency’s global offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Singapore. She was most recently chief strategy officer at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, where she was instrumental in leading work across the agency’s roster of clients, including Walmart, Procter & Gamble and USAA. Prior to that, she led the strategic vision for brands such as Olay, Tide/Ariel, Head & Shoulders and Trident as global strategy director.

“I am incredibly excited to be joining VaynerMedia,” commented Pogue. “I love their energy, their culture, but above all, I believe and share their ambition to redefine the industry and create a new model that’s not rooted in old paradigms, opinions and vagueness. It’s super exciting to be a part of that.”

Lenois will oversee the agency’s global creative product. He arrives from his role as deputy chief creative officer at Grey New York, which saw him create work for clients such as Volvo, Febreze, Hasbro, and Darden Restaurants. He has also worked at Saatchi & Saatchi New York and BBDO New York.

“My first encounter with VaynerMedia was through Gary’s social content. I connected with his idea of putting people first,” said Lenois. “But once I got to the agency and met with Gary and the team in person, I saw that ‘people-first’ isnt just some marketing jumbo but is very real in the culture. I was also struck by the energy and the tenacity of the agency. Everywhere I turned, people were making and doing: filming, editing, animating and podcasting. In an industry where some of the best ideas don’t make it past a PDF, I was hooked by the culture of ‘make and share’. VaynerMedia is changing the game. They won four Cannes Lions this year, which speaks to their creative prowess and their ability to deliver business results for their clients. I look forward to building on that momentum and creating more results-driven work.”

Sublime makes executive changes
Andrew Buckman has been promoted to chief executive officer, while Marc Rouanet has transitioned to chief revenue officer, at advertising marketplace Sublime.

Buckman joined Sublime as managing director EMEA in 2017 before being handed his previous role of chief operating officer earlier this year. He has been integral in developing strategic partnerships with brands and publishers, as well as driving company growth. AS CEO, he will manage day-to-day operations and focus on developing clear goals and strategies to further increase the company’s footprint.

“It has been a great year for Sublime and we’re excited to see what’s to come as we approach 2020,” said Buckman. “We pride ourselves in offering engaging ad units that don’t intrude on the user experience and I look forward to continuing to promote these solutions, and further build on Sublime’s success to become the leading digital branding platform.”

Rouanet co-founded Sublime in 2012 and, in his new role, will be responsible for driving new business sales and partner strategy. In addition, he will continue to sit on the board of directors where he will play a vital role in the future of the company.

“I am thrilled with the success Sublime has achieved,” said Rouanet. “High-impact, non-intrusive ad formats are the core of Sublime and I look forward to continuing to promote adoption. Andrew has been and will continue to be invaluable to Sublime – his hard work and determination has strengthened Sublime’s impact in the marketplace and will continue to drive the company forward.”

Clarken named Criteo chief
Advertising platform Criteo has appointed Megan Clarken as its chief executive officer, effective 25 November.

Replacing founding chairman and CEO JB Rudelle, who has decided to split his two roles, Clarken arrives on the back of 15 years in various positions at Nielsen. Most recently, she was chief commercial officer of Nielsen Global Media. Rudelle will remain as chairman.

“This is a very exciting time for me to join Criteo,” said Clarken. “Criteo has grown into a truly impressive company, with high-quality assets and talented teams, and Im very honored to lead the company into the next chapter of its development.”

Blippar gets a new boss
Faisal Galaria has been chosen as chief executive officer at Blippar, an augmented reality (AR) technology company. Working closely with founder Ambarish Mitra and chief technology officer Preet Prasannan, he will be responsible for driving Blippar’s commercial growth and development as the company continues to expand its proprietary AR creation and publishing platform post administration.

Galaria joins from his role as chief strategy & investments officer at GoCompare, where he helped lead its IPO on the London Stock Exchange and managed several acquisitions. Before that, he was a senior partner at Alvarez & Marsal and was once senior vice president at Spotify, where he launched the music streaming service in seven countries. Galaria has also held roles at Kayak, Skype, and Ofcom, while he is currently a non-executive director at Superdry.

“Blippar has an amazing provenance in the AR space and is in a strong position post administration with an exceptional team and strong relationships with clients,” said Galaria. “I am delighted to join Ambarish and the team at this important time. We will put our eight years’ experience of creativity, technology and partnerships to work in order to deliver results for our clients and position Blippar for growth.”

Beames chosen as UK GM at Adsquare
Adsquare, a mobile data exchange, has turned to Andy Beames as its UK general manager. Reporting to vice president of sales David Fieldhouse, he will take full ownership of the UK market, focusing on media agencies, trading desks and OOH companies to level up their programmatic buys by leveraging Adsquare’s data marketplace.

Prior to joining Adsquare, Andy was commercial director as well as global data solutions director at Blis, where he was responsible for helping advertisers, media owners and technology companies enhance their location-based advertising strategies.

“Adsquare is in an exciting phase of growth and Andy Beames is the right person to lead us forward in the UK,” said Fieldhouse. “He has exceptional experience in the digital media and location space and we are thrilled he’s joined us as UK general manager.”

MediaCom selects Trenouth as influencer marketing head
Emily Trenouth has been hired as head of influencer marketing strategy at MediaCom. She will lead the influencer marketing offering within MediaCom Beyond Advertising, working across both the UK and worldwide businesses and their clients, including Coca-Cola, Sony PlayStation, Sony Mobile, NBCUniversal, Bose, Direct Line Group, DFS, Tesco, LVMH, and more.

Trenouth takes up the role at MediaCom after two years at Tribe, where she joined as a part of the founding team in 2017 before spearheading the company’s US launch this year. Before Tribe, she worked at Takumi.

“I’m incredibly passionate about this space and so thrilled to be taking my experience from influencer marketing & on-demand content to the UK’s largest media agency at such an exciting time within the category,” said Trenouth. “Clients are rapidly allocating more budget towards influencer campaigns, yet ROI is still raising question marks. I can’t wait to be able to work alongside some of the UK’s leading talent to deliver strategic data-driven influencer campaigns with well-defined and measurable results.”

Chandler and Ferreira become Adjust’s latest senior appointments
Mobile measurement and fraud prevention firm Adjust has acquired the services of Andy Chandler as UK & Ireland general manager and Isabel Ferreira as sales director.

Chandler will focus on scaling Adjust’s operations and growing the team in the UK and Ireland. Boasting over 17 years of ad tech experience, he joins the company from Tapjoy, where he led the development of its programmatic offering as EMEA vice president. He has previously worked at Amazon, Microsoft, and Telegraph Media Group.

“Adjust has helped shape the industry as we know it, bringing topics including privacy and transparency front of mind for mobile marketers,” said Chandler. “The company has developed into one of the European tech scene’s biggest success stories, and I’m looking forward to leading its growth across the UK and Ireland.”

Ferreira will be responsible for expanding the company’s client base in the UK and Ireland. She has almost 10 years’ experience in app marketing and arrives from Appsumer, where she was responsible for developing its footprint in EMEA. She has also worked at MobFox and Supersonic.

Christian Henschel, co-founder and CEO at Adjust, said: “Since launching Adjust in the UK in 2013, we’ve gone from strength to strength – and we now work with some of the region’s most exciting brands. Andy and Isabel’s combined experience in tech, app marketing and SaaS are hugely complimentary, and will be invaluable as we expand on our next period of growth in the UK and Ireland.”

Leo Burnett hands new role to Marcus
Matt Marcus has been appointed to the newly created role of chief experience officer at Leo Burnett North America. Reporting to Leo Burnett Worldwide chief creative officer Liz Taylor, he will be responsible for overseeing multi-channel customer experience strategies that deliver growth for Leo Burnett and its clients.

Marcus has founded two companies and held executive roles at both multinational corporations and startups. Most recently at R/G, he co-founded and ran the artificial intelligence practice and developed the methodology for training global teams. he also oversaw teams for experience design, visual design, brand design and systematic campaign creation.

“This is an amazing opportunity to help one of the most renowned agencies in the world tell its stories through new technologies, in non-linear ways,” said Marcus. “Im so excited that Ill get to partner with Leos talented leaders to bring forward creative solutions that grow brands and build business.”

Livek picked to lead Comscore
Comscore’s board of directors has chosen Bill Livek to be its chief executive officer and executive vice chairman. Having been at the company since 2016, he has also served as executive vice chairman & president as well as principle executive officer.

Before joining Comscore, Livek served as vice chairman & CEO at Rentrak. He has previously served as co-president of Experian Research Services, co-chair/co-owner of Simmons Market Research Bureau, co-founder of Transactional Data Solutions, vice president of sales/marketing for Arbitron and was a principal shareholder in Birch Research, which was later integrated into Scarborough Research, where he served as president and CEO.

“I would like to thank Dale [Fuller] for his guidance and leadership throughout this transition,” said Livek. “I am excited about the prospects that lie ahead for Comscore and the opportunities we continue to believe are ripe for disruption. I look forward to capitalizing on these opportunities and creating meaningful value for our stakeholders.”

Takumi adds new exec, bolster board
Carla Faria has been appointed chief revenue officer at influencer marketing service Takumi, with Mary Keane-Dawson, Sarah Speake, and Rob Forshaw becoming non-executive directors.

Faria will be responsible for driving Takumi’s revenue strategy globally, and will be tasked with establishing new revenue streams to maintain the company’s position as a leading Instagram influencer marketing service.

Keane-Dawson has held C-suite roles at WPP, Steak, Reform, and Collective. She co-founded MyHealthPal and How She Made It, and also sits on the board of London Tech Advocates and the advisory board for the Internet Commission, while being a global ambassador for the British Interactive Media Association.

Speake is a former global chief marketing officer and international sales director with 25 years of media and marketing experience from companies including Google, ITV, and Clear Channel.

Forshaw started his career working for Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi, and Wieden+Kennedy, and, subsequently, co-founded Grand Union, which was acquired by FullSix in 2010. He is a board advisor to a number of businesses in the UK and USA.

“We have bolstered our board with some exceptionally talented and experienced professionals who will support the business through continued growth,” said Adam Williams, Takumi CEO. “We will remain committed to developing smart anti-fraud technology and championing collaborative relationships between brands and Instagram creators.”

Magee to direct on data at Syzygy
Syzygy, a digital agency, has opted for Anthony Magee as its director of data & experience technology. Reporting to Syzygy’s UK chief executive officer Ita Murphy, he will lead the agency’s data-led approach to client planning and service, developing its overarching Digital Architects proposition.

Magee was managing partner at digital IQ and has worked with organisations and brands including Mazda, Virgin Experience Days, Xero, Lego, BT, Argos, and Sainsbury’s.

“I couldn’t have found a better home than Syzygy to indulge my obsession with leveraging data science for better customer experiences. I’m looking forward to using intelligent data to speedily and efficiently resolve our clients’ key business issues and engage their audiences,” said Magee. “The data-led planning approach we’re applying across our work means that, whether bringing next generation products to market or improving personalisation, our clients will benefit from tangible ‘Return on Experience’ (ROE).”

Metadata.io names LAbbé as president
Olivier LAbbé has taken up the role of president at AI-powered marketing operations platform Metadata.io. He will lead go-to-market strategy, customer success and business development.

Boasting more than 15 years of experience in strategic sales growth, LAbbé was senior vice president of sales at G2 Crowd. He also served as director of sales at Fliptop, which was acquired by LinkedIn.

“At G2 crowd, I saw numerous customers operationalise their data with Metadata,” said LAbbé. “In fact, G2 Crowd’s marketing team itself uses Metadata with great success. As Metadata rose in the marketing execution software ranks, I took note of their rapid innovation and growth. I am thrilled to join the team and to lead the charge as we aggressively work to bring Metadata’s breakthrough marketing operations technology to market because I’ve seen first-hand how Metadata improves how marketers work and the value it delivers to customers.”