Movers and Shakers: Leo Burnett, R/GA, Havas, Incubeta, Vodafone, and more
- Wednesday, February 17th, 2021
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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.
Leo Burnett names Doskow CMO
Emily Doskow has been announced as Chief Marketing Officer at Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett. Reporting to North America CEO Andrew Swinand, she will drive Leo Burnetts business growth by drawing on the agencys creative firepower, now backed by Epsilons data assets, and allowing the agency to understand people at the individual level.
Doskow rejoins Leo Burnett, where she won Ad Age’s 2011 ‘Marketer of the Year’ and spent several years leading the Coca-Cola account team. Between her stints at Leo Burnett, Doskow spent three years at the helm of business development, architecting the teams and processes that led to significant global-scale wins, and helping build and market new capabilities to drive organic growth for Energy BBDO and helped build the business development practice for VSA Partners.
“Im incredibly proud to return to Leo Burnett, where my passion for driving agency growth really began,” said Doskow. “More than anyone, Burnetters know what it takes to be both timely and timeless—helping brands move at the speed of culture while also ensuring they stand the test of time. I couldnt be more excited about what this means for the future of our work with client partners.”
Pair of key hires made at R/GA
R/GA, IPG’s innovation consultancy, has brought in Ashish Prashar as Global Chief Marketing Officer and Rowena Vithlani as Executive Client Services Director at R/GA London.
Prashar, who begins the role on 2 March, will oversee the global marketing function for R/GA with responsibility for market strategy, brand, and corporate communications. He joins from Publicis Sapient with over 15 years of experience.
Prashar is also known for justice reform activism, having created programmes for incarcerated peoples following his own incarceration and campaigned for bail reform, the ending of solitary confinement, and the restoration of voting rights. He recently worked with the Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee for Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential Election and previously served as a campaign Press Secretary for Boris Johnson in his Mayor of London days.
“I feel honoured to contribute my experience to an already dynamic legacy and I have a special place in my heart for those who use their creativity, technology, and their platform to drive social change,” said Prashar. “R/GA is that kind of modern company. Im looking forward to helping Sean and R/GA grow, build and execute the next generation of digital businesses using mission-driven innovation and technology to design better experiences for the human future while helping brands become better citizens of the world.”
Vithlani will be responsible for the leadership of R/GA Londons senior client relationships, growing the agency’s client services team and leading strategic partnerships to help clients navigate industry disruption.
Vithlani joins R/GA from AnalogFolk, where she held the role of Managing Partner. Here, she led the implementation of AnalogFolk’s marketing innovation capability and output, building and leading multi-disciplinary teams to create and deliver work for clients including The Coca-Cola Company, BT Group, and Unilever. Before that, she held roles at Sapient Razorfish, AKQA, and BBH London.
“After meeting Becs [Rebecca Bezzina], and the new leadership team she’s building, I was inspired by the direction the agency is moving. To be part of the journey of shaping the next chapter of success here is something that excites me.” said Vithlani. “Ive always been an advocate of delivering best in class service, not servility, and my vision for this role is to foster an innovative mindset and culture where the output is that the work can be the best it can be – with a sharp focus on relationships, commerciality and creative affinity.”
Havas appoints Bland to newly created role
Paul Bland has been hired by Havas Media Group as Head of Biddable Media. He will lead the 100-plus digital specialists in Havas Media Group’s UK and international teams, who will now come together under a new biddable team structure. He will set the strategic vision for all biddable channels, and work to deliver greater cross-channel agility to further drive client business performance, all fuelled by data and insights.
Bland joins from iProspect, where he spent nearly six years and was most recently Head of Performance Strategy within the agency’s leadership team, responsible for driving growth and innovation across digital and performance products and solutions, contributing to winning new business, and developing new partnerships with brands. He previously held positions at MediaCom and Equimedia.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be leading Havas Media Group’s biddable operation and can’t wait to get started on a mission to make digital and biddable the most meaningful media for brands,” said Bland. “This move comes at a genuine pivot point for media, with shifting consumer behaviours and expectations driven by tectonic change, leading to far more direct connection between people and brands.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be leading the new biddable team, as we partner closely with clients, innovating to drive tangible business results.”
Laycock elevated to CEO at Incubeta
Incubeta, an independent digital marketing services group, has promoted Sally Laycock to UK Chief Executive Officer. She will be tasked with continuing to drive Incubeta’s growth trajectory through the innovation of services and products and will also join the global Incubeta steering committee.
Laycock joined Incubeta in 2008 as Financial Controller and became Chief Financial Officer UK and US in 2017 overseeing all financial and business operations.
“Luke [Judge] has been instrumental to the success of Incubeta in the UK and the US. Not only has he been an outstanding leader and CEO, he is also an incredible colleague, friend and a truly amazing and humble person. Having worked side by side with Luke for many years, I have certainly learnt from the best and I am honoured the baton has been passed on to me,” commented Laycock.
“I want to ensure we carry forward the legacy of a strong people culture which has been built up over the years with a particular focus on creating an environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves at work. This is something I am absolutely passionate about. Over the past 13 years I have watched employees at Incubeta thrive and progress. I’m so proud of what we have all achieved together and I am excited to be at the helm to ensure this continues.”
Vodafone adds Swantee to board
Olaf Swantee will be appointed as a Non-executive Director following Vodafone Group’s annual general meeting on 27 July 2021, subject to shareholder approval. He will also become a member of Vodafone’s Audit & Risk Committee.
Swantee was CEO of Sunrise Communications between 2016 and 2020, transforming the company’s brand, network, and services to establish it as true challenger to Swisscom. Prior to that, he was CEO of EE, where he successfully merged Orange UK and T-Mobile under BT Group. He has also held senior positions at France Telecom (now Orange Group), Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer, and Digital Equipment.
“It is an honour to be invited to the Board of Vodafone, Europe and Africa’s leading telecommunications company,” Swantee commented. “I am greatly looking forward to working with Jean-Francois [van Boxmeer] and the board to support Nick [Read] and the executive team successfully drive forward the strategy.”
Rizwani hired to direct strategy at Tribal Health
Tribal Health, a division of DDB Worldwide’s Tribal Worldwide, has recruited Niaz Rizwani as its new Strategy Director. He will support Tribal Health’s clients across multiple activities notably – connecting a client’s commercial goals with interactive customer experiences, shaping data strategies and omnichannel planning, knowledge sharing, and delivering innovative approaches.
Rizwani joins from Publicis Health, where he was a Senior Strategist. Before that, he worked in strategy and innovation projects at DigitasLBi and Blue Latitude.
“This is a fascinating time to be involved in healthcare and I’m delighted to join Tribal Health as Strategy Director,” said Rizwani. “There is so much change in the world, and the way healthcare companies are digitally interacting with their customers is fundamentally and rapidly evolving. I’m looking forward to working with our clients to help them deliver meaningful change to their customers and business.”
4A’s welcomes new board members
Vita M. Harris, Kate MacNevin, and Megan Pagliuca have taken seats on the Board of Directors as Directors at Large at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s).
Harris, Chief Strategy Officer at FCB Global, is dedicated to helping drive agency and client success, as well as cultivating new business opportunities.
MacNevin leads MRM as Global Chairwoman & CEO, where she has sought to reinvent how agencies serve their clients, employees, and communities.
Pagliuca, Chief Activation Officer for Omnicom Media Group North America, leverages the Omnicom network’s vast data resources to advance more customer-centric and data-driven investment strategies.
“The challenges of the last year have reaffirmed the pivotal role the 4As plays in guiding our member agencies and helping them thrive during these uncertain times,” said Marla Kaplowitz, President & CEO of the 4A’s. “As we continue to support the needs and ambitions of our members in 2021, I am thrilled to welcome such a wonderful group of leaders to our Board of Directors who will partner alongside our leadership team to further identify opportunities to support members and advance the industry.”
Senior ad industry players signed by Admix
In-game ad company Admix has appointed Nigel Morris to its Board and enlisted Rob Norman as a Senior Advisor.
Morris, who is already an Admix advisor and investor, will work closely with the leadership team. He was a central figure at Dentsu Aegis Network for over 25 years, founding Isobar and transforming the US Group. He is currently Chair of The Upside, on the Board at Gyana, and a Non-executive Director at Guardian Media Group.
“The video gaming domain will be the next big media channel following social media’s emergence some 15 years ago. In-Play is intrinsically engaging to audiences and brand safe for marketers at scale, and will become a key driver of sustainable growth strategies for brands,” said Morris. “The Admix team is very conscious of the whole ecosystem for consumers, brands and publishers, and we have developed a pioneering and agile platform that provides a great experience and performance for all.”
Norman will focus on the Americas, acting as an advisor to Admix’s US team. He was a long time CDO of WPP’s GroupM and additionally served as its North American CEO. He is also a Director at Simpli.fi, Director at Piano, and Non-executive Director at BBC Global News.
“I am delighted to join Admix as an advisor. Gaming on personal devices has become a huge part of media consumption,” Norman commented. “In-Play advertising creates revenue for publishers and reach and engagement for advertisers. Admix unlocks the economic opportunity with programmatic speed and precision, and does so without compromising user experience.”
Remerge selects Eichmann as GM
Patrick Eichmann has been appointed General Manager of the Americas at mobile app retargeting company Remerge. Focusing on the US, Canada, and South America, he will head up strategy in region to build upon and drive the company’s growth in those markets.
Eichmann has been promoted from Vice President of Sales. Before Remerge, he was Director of Sales and New Business at Liftoff.
“App marketing is at a critical crossroads. At a time when Apple is ushering in changes to IDFA to empower user privacy, we are also seeing a surge in consumer demand for mobile gaming, shopping, food delivery and more. Remerge has been at the forefront of respecting privacy changes and building new products to allow apps to thrive in this new environment. I’m proud to be helping build Remerge into the leading mobile DSP in the Americas,” said Eichmann.
Gore promoted to CDO at Zeta
Zeta Global, a marketing tech company, has elevated Neej Gore to the position of Chief Data Officer. He will lead the Companys global data and analytics strategy, creating growth for brands by transforming data into actionable business insights, and continue the development of Zetas large identity graph, while driving further innovation within Zetas Opportunity Explorer.
Gore was previously Chief Business Officer at Boomtrain, which was acquired by Zeta four years ago. More recently, he was President of the Data Cloud division at Zeta.
“I am thrilled to continue advancing Zetas Data Cloud, which we have proudly grown to be one of the largest proprietary consumer data assets in the world,” said Gore. “Data literacy and insights have become essential for every enterprise business to connect with consumers at an individual level, and to do that successfully, they must have strong identity and intent based data solutions. I look forward to furthering our mission at Zeta to help marketers acquire, grow and retain customers and combat their toughest challenges.”
Sightly turns to Papp as CTO
Stefan Papp has been hired by Sightly, a media services and tech company, as its Chief Technology Officer. He will growth of the company’s technology and its Brand Mentality solution.
Papp joins Sightly after serving as the Senior Vice president for Deloitte Digital. Previously, he was the CTO at Blab. He also held leadership positions at technology companies including AdReady, Intelligent Effects, and Solutions IQ.
“In todays turbulent world where information and events happen at an unprecedented pace, Sightlys technology is fundamentally transforming the way that marketers react and plan,” said Papp. “Our Brand Mentality methodology taps into the fire-hose of public discourse, leveraging advanced technologies, to provide brands with the unique and extremely necessary capability to act on real-time insights at speed, while trends still resonate.”
Four countries get new leadership at Lycamobile
Mobile virtual network operator Lycamobile has appointed new country managers in Australia, France, Russia, and Romania.
Brendan Feeney takes up leadership in Australia. Boasting over 20 years’ experience in the telecom sector, he previously created brand awareness and converted momentum into customer growth at Optus.
Mikis de Bonneval takes up the France gig. In his more recent position at Lebara France, he oversaw a significant organisational reshuffle leading the firm back into profitability.
Mikhail Alilekov is now Russia Country Manager at Lycamobile after over 15 years working for telecoms firm including VimpelCom and MTT.
Finally, Mihai Nica will lead the Romania business. Over the past 10 years, he has worked at telecom companies including Vodafone and Telekom Romania.
“We’re very pleased to welcome such an experienced group of country managers to the Lycamobile family,” said Navanit Narayan, Group Chief Operating Officer at Lycamobile. “Each of them brings the depth of experience needed to boost our growth at a national level. I look forward to the exceptional work these four will bring to their new roles and look forward to realising our shared priorities.”
Bounteous hires Wang to lead strategy
Oscar Wang has joined digital experience consultancy Bounteous as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Insights. She will lead a multi-faceted team to create insights-centric strategies that drive transformative digital experiences.
Wang joins Bounteous with 15 years of experience at Prophet. She was a founding member and a key driving force of Prophet’s global strategic consumer insight & analytics practice, leading client engagements, hiring and developing talent, cultivating culture, and creating and evolving intellectual property critical to Prophets overall human insights-driven integrated branding, marketing, and innovation offerings.
“We live in a time where the old business books are being re-written in front of our eyes. Companies big and small are moving with a heightened sense of urgency to adapt,” said Wang. “In this context, I believe there is no disruptive growth without disruptive insights. It will be a true honour and great responsibility to lead and serve Bounteous’ clients in this transitioning world.
“It requires a fundamentally collaborative mindset, an agile but disciplined approach, and a pragmatic, strategic, and human leadership style. Within the Bounteous leadership team, I have found a group of comrades working toward this cause. I am proud to join a like-minded organization with a tremendous foundation. The co-innovation opportunity is, in a word, bounteous.”
Bell and Nicholls join Momentum exec team
Growth consultancy Momentum has appointed Robert Bell as Group Chief Financial Officer and Will Nicholls as UK Managing Director.
Bell, whose appointment follows his sale of private equity-backed company Cawood Scientific, has a track record of leading organisations through periods of high growth and international expansion and will guide the group’s M&A strategy – with a particular focus on North America.
“I am excited to be joining the team at Momentum during such a significant time in the company’s development and growth and look forward to leveraging my experience as we drive the business forward,” said Bell.
Nicholls becomes MD after a year with the company – having previously held positions as MD at Alpha Century and Managing Partner at both BBH and Saatchi & Saatchi – and will drive business strategy and operations, with a focus on developing Momentum’s consulting capabilities and client base in EMEA.
“It’s an honour to take on the role of MD and I’m excited to lead the continued success of the business here in the European market,” said Nicholls. “During my time in the business I’ve seen huge demand from clients to solve their biggest challenge – how to bring teams together to drive growth.
“Our clients are looking for partners with real depth of expertise to drive business outcomes and flawless delivery. We have phenomenal track record in delivering both and enter 2021 in a strong position.”
Momentum has also bolstered its regional management teams with the appointments of James Mollard as Business Development Director and Jacqueline Gummer as Consulting Director.
Alight hires Carreau to head up direct sales
Jacqui Carreau has been appointed Head of Direct Sales at out-of-home media owner Alight Media. Reporting to Chief Revenue Officer Ged Glover, she will lead Alight’s growing direct sales team positioned across the UK.
Carreau previously spent nearly eight years at Clear Channel, holding roles such as Head of South and Area Sales Manager for the South West. Prior to that, she spent almost 12 years at Newsquest, focused on Somerset and Devon.
“Alight Media has really impressed me, both in terms of growth and ambition, but also in the way the team runs the business,” said Carreau. “I’m over the moon to join a company with a clear mission to make out-of-home work harder for advertisers of all shapes and sizes, with a real focus on supporting SMEs build back better. I can’t wait to get stuck in.”