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.

Hilton selects Nestor to lead APAC marketing
Julie Nestor has been named as vice president of marketing & eCommerce in Asia Pacific at Hilton. In her role, she will drive the marketing and eCommerce strategy for the region, enticing new customers to Hilton’s portfolio of brands and driving growth in direct bookings.

Nestor was most recently at eBay as chief marketing officer for Australia, where she was responsible for retaining eBay’s position as the top online marketplace in the country and launching eBay’s first paid membership program — eBay Plus. Prior to eBay, she spent more than a decade at American Express, where she was responsible for launching the first Apple Pay service in Australia, establishing loyalty programs with leading airline companies and upmarket retail brands, and developing tailor-made experience programs for cardmembers.

“With a large portfolio of award-winning brands, Hilton is on a huge growth trajectory with so much potential in the region. I am proud to be part of a team that strives to bring to life the outstanding experiences and spirit of the Hilton brand to our guests,” said Nestor. “As we look towards 2020, I will be focused on driving demand for our properties and working with the team to position Hilton as the hotel of choice, especially in our key destinations.”

Spicer takes up strategy role at Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett Chicago has elevated Aki Spicer to the role of chief strategy officer. Previously executive vice president and global strategy lead, he will work closely with recently appointed chief creative officer Jordan to elevate the agencys ability to deliver platform ideas, work across teams to help articulate the marriage of strategy and data, and strengthen the integration of creative disciplines within the departments offering.

Spicer joined Leo Burnett in October 2018 to lead global strategy for Samsung, since then taking on responsibility for additional clients including Facebook Messenger. Prior to joining the agency, he served as chief strategy officer at TBWA/Chiat/Day New York, where he worked on brands like Nissan, McDonalds and Hilton, and helped productise that agencys offerings through new processes and methodologies.

“Leo Burnett is a storied brand with an incredible legacy of creative innovation, paving the way for modern disciplines like media and content strategy, experience design and the idea of building populist brands through cultural relevancy,” Spicer said. “Where better than Leo Burnett to reprise that for this modern era? Im thrilled to take up that mantle and carry it forward in a world where data promises to make us smarter than ever across so many channels.”

Nielsen brings in Sims-Williams on diversity
Beginning January 2020, Sandra Sims-Williams will join Nielsen as senior vice president of diversity & inclusion (D&I). Reporting to chief executive officer David Kenny, she will lead Nielsens D&I strategy and teams for both the Media and Connect sides of the business, through Nielsens transition into two independent, publicly traded companies.

Prior to joining Nielsen, Sims-Williams led diversity and inclusion efforts at Publicis Groupe as chief diversity officer. She is also a member of The Advertising Industrys Diversity Steering Committee and serves on the boards of New York Women in Communication, Advertising Club of New York and ColorComm.

“I am proud to be joining the Nielsen team and continuing to leverage diversity and inclusion as key elements for growth and leadership,” said Sims-Williams. “I look forward to working with and supporting Nielsens talented teams as we enter the next chapter of the companys transformation into two independent, publicly-traded companies.”

Ismert to preside over WT Mobile
WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has promoted Ted Ismert to the role of president of Wunderman Thompson Mobile. Based in New York, Ismert will oversee Wunderman Thompson Mobile’s business as it fits within the broader Wunderman Thompson portfolio of services and primarily be focused on leading teams to deliver best in class work for brands.

Ismert previously served as vice president of account, where he oversaw Wunderman Thompson Mobile’s client engagement teams and all key accounts. In his over 15 years of experience in mobile, technology, and digital strategy, he has also held various leadership roles at Code Worldwide, MCD, and Euro RSCG.

“I’m proud of our mobile team for their commitment to innovation and quality, and it’s truly an unbelievable opportunity to take Wunderman Thompson Mobile to the next level,” said Ted Ismert, President, Wunderman Thompson Mobile. “Wunderman Thompson is a unique agency focused on creativity, data, and technology – and I couldn’t be more thrilled to integrate our mobile capabilities and deliver innovative product experiences for ambitious brands.”

Zenith makes host of promotions
Sannah Rogers, Jon Stevens, Richard Kirk, and Matt Skelding have all been handed new roles at Zenith UK. Rogers becomes managing director of agency operations, Stevens managing director of client service, Kirk chief strategy officer, and Skelding managing partner, head of planning.

In addition to these changes, Matthew Bushby has been hired from Mediacom. Reporting to Zenith’s head of investment David Mulrenan, he takes up the role of head of programmatic.

“Jon and Sannah are both ex-new business leads so they know what it takes to win; this is the reason we have been so successful in pitching this year,” said Natalie Cummins, chief executive officer at Zenith UK. “With Rich Kirk, Matt and Sam bringing the media craft chops and Dave and Thiago experts in activation, I feel like we have a brilliant combination of talent at the top to make sure we keep delivering for our clients and continue winning in 2020.”

Dahm joins Yext as Europe SVP
Yext, a search experience cloud company, has hired Tobias Dahm as senior vice president of Central Europe, where hell manage all customer-facing operations for the region.

Dahm brings 25 years of experience in the tech industry, with his most recent role at Salesforce, as an area vice president for the enterprise business within Germany. Prior to that, he held a number of sales and management positions at Microsoft, Symantec, Compuware, and others.

“The opportunity ahead for Yext is tremendous,” said Dahm. “Yext is poised to change the way businesses connect with their customers online, empowering them to take back control of the customer journey by putting their truth online. Im thrilled to be a part of it.”

Globant adds Kaplun as regional MD
Nicolás Pablo Kaplun has been chosen to be regional managing director of Latin America at Globant, a digitally-native technology services company. Reporting to chief executive officer and co-founder Martin Migoya, Kaplun will run and oversee all aspects of the Latin America operation, including the business development strategy, team building and management and overall client relationship.

Kaplun joins from Accenture, where he served as managing director in the financial services division, leading sales for the Hispanic South America region. Prior to that, he held executive roles at Citibank, Zurich, Telefonica, and Korn/Ferry International.

“I was always impressed by Globants ability to develop long-term partnerships with traditional and digitally native global clients for their transformation processes. I really admire how they deliver high impact in their results,” commented Kaplun.  “I am very excited to join such a team of bright, energetic and talented people and work together in helping our customers rethink their businesses.”

Campagna named Balbix CMO
AI-powered cybersecurity platform Balbix has hired Rich Campagna as chief marketing officer, a role he steps into following a seven-year stint at Bitglass.

At Bitglass, Campagna served as chief marketing officer, helping to launch the company out of stealth in 2013. Prior to that, he held senior leadership roles in product management at F5 Networks and Juniper Networks.

“Balbix is already helping dozens of enterprises reduce their breach risk by 95% or more, while dramatically increasing security team efficiency at a time of dire infosec talent shortages globally,” said Campagna. “I am thrilled to be working alongside the Balbix team to support the company in its mission to arm enterprises with the technology and the tools needed to achieve cyber-resilience.”

Oracle gives Sikka board seat
Vishal Sikka has been given a place on Oracle’s board of directors. He is the chief executive officer (and founder) of recently founded AI company Vianai Systems.

Before starting Vianai, he held a top executive role at SAP and, most recently, was chief executive officer and managing director at Infosys.

“For years, the Oracle Database has been the heartbeat and life-blood of every large and significant organization in the world,” said Sikka. “Today, Oracle is the only one of the big four cloud companies that offers both Enterprise Application Suites and Secure Infrastructure technologies in a single unified cloud.  Oracles unique position in both applications and infrastructure paves the way for enormous innovation and growth in the times ahead. I am excited to have the opportunity to join the Oracle Board, and be part of this journey.”

Three new VPs at Qubit
Qubit, a marketing personalisation technology firm, has expanded its senior management team with the appointments of Tracey Ryan O’Connor as vice president of North America, Julia Fearn as vice president of customer success, and Robin Trickett as vice president of strategy.

O’Connor, who will be responsible for business operations in Norther America, was previously responsible for a portfolio of strategic accounts at ATG (now Oracle Commerce), Reflektion, SmarterHQ, and, most recently, Salesforce.

Fearn will lead Qubit’s customer team worldwide. She spent more than eight years at Digital River, where she was responsible for customer success across a number of accounts.

Trickett has been promoted from the role of global operations director, having already spent five years at Qubit. He will work with the leadership team on GTM, multi-year planning, and strategic initiatives. Prior to Qubit, he was a senior consultant with Roland Berger.

“Tracey, Julia and Robin are all highly accomplished professionals and we are truly excited to have them on our management team,” said Marco Vergani, chief operating officer at Qubit. “We believe they will not only help Qubit to achieve ambitious growth, but they will make our customers extremely successful. Each is very customer-centric, which is critical for us as our clients include some of the worlds most iconic brands.”

MiQ hands Madorsky Northeast MD gig
Erin Madorsky has been selected as managing director of the Northeast at marketing intelligence firm MiQ. She will work directly with US chief executive officer Sean Reardon to develop and grow business across the Northeast region, cultivate and strengthen relationships with key brands and media agencies, and further strengthen the company’s position as a marketing intelligence and programmatic solutions provider.

Madorsky previously served as chief revenue officer at Verve and, earlier, was senior vice presien of sales at Viant.

“I’m excited to join a team of such talented industry leaders that are rooted in and passionate about the future of marketing, ad tech, and data,” Madorsky said. “The emphasis on and growing need for marketing intelligence and strategic partnerships with brands and agencies is critical in today’s competitive and consumer-driven landscape, and MiQ is leading the way in helping clients connect the important dots between who customers are, their motivations, and how to effectively action insight through programmatic capabilities. I look forward to building on the already impressive growth for the company and expanding our reach and foothold within the US market moving forward.”

Portelli takes place on Metadata board
Metadata.io, an AI-powered marketing operations platform, has added Bill Portelli to its board of directors.

Portelli previously served as chief executive officer, co-founder, and chairman at CollabNet. In addition to Metadata, he holds board roles at CollabNet, Convercent, Workspot and Parsable.

“Metadata is in a position to change the marketing industry as we know it,” said Portelli. “Marketing automation is fraught with non-integrated points tools whose data and insights are inefficiently tied together through manual workflow. This inefficiency and the resulting loss of revenue acquisition needs to change. Metadata’s AI engine acts as a ‘super-brain,’ smartly augmenting digital marketing campaigns by running operations at a scale not humanly possible. I’m honoured to serve and advise this bright, innovative team in its quest to transform marketing operations with powerful technology. In merely two years, Metadata achieved leadership in its category and brought in marquee customers such as Zendesk, Splunk, Nutanix and G2.”

SMP brings in Kidd and Mellinger
Jason Kidd and Glen Mellinger have been appointed as client partners at SMP, a shopper marketing specialist. The pair will work in the Dublin and San Francisco offices respectively.

Reporting to managing director Peter Martin, Kidd and Mellinger will support SMP’s international growth plans and assist the agency’s existing clients across EMEA and North America.

Kidd joins SMP from Live & Breathe, where he was managing partner, while Mellinger previously served in marketing management roles at Dolby and Logitech.

“We’re committed to building a future-facing global agency that meets the changing needs of clients – and in Jason and Glen, we have two of the most exciting names in shopper marketing. They’ll bring deep expertise to our clients’ businesses, both in their respective territories as well as to SMP,” commented Chris Carter, chief marketing officer at SMP.

Day joins Black Swan
Data science technology company Black Swan Data has hired media industry expert Rupert Day. He will be responsible for applying the firm’s social prediction technology to new use-cases and sectors within the retail, content, and advertising industries.

Day launched WPP’s TenthAvenue in January 2011, continuing as its global chief executive officer until April 2018. Before that, he was global chief operating officer of WPP’s GroupM media operations. Day was also part of the original management team that launched Mindshare globally, following more than a decade in senior financial roles for WPP subsidiaries.

“Were excited about the opportunities and experience Rupert brings with him as we enter the next phase of our journey,” said Hugo Amos, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Black Swan Data. “We have already established our pedigree and demonstrated the impact of our technology across CPG, retail and aviation sectors, with Ruperts expertise, well be looking at diversifying across new sectors and markets. Ruperts track record in connecting media and technology and developing new revenue streams speaks for itself and its a real coup for Black Swan.”