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.

SoundCloud appoints Gabriele to lead subscriptions & marketing
Anthony Gabriele has joined SoundCloud as SVP of subscriptions & marketing. The newly-created role will see Gabriele lead the growth and expansion of SoundCloud’s Listener and Creator businesses, in addition to overseeing its growth marketing and brand marketing, and community support teams.

Based in SoundCloud’s New York office, Gabriele will report to the open audio platform’s chief operating officer, Michael Weissman.

Prior to arriving at SoundCloud, Gabriele was the head of subscription marketing at Apple. There, he helped grow Apple Music from under 10m to over 50m paid subscribers. Before that, he held roles at Amazon and Dow Jones. He is also the president of the board of directors for the Independent International Legal Advocates, a not-for-profit that provides in-house counsel for the public international law departments of small and developing States.

“SoundCloud stands apart. Its where creators build their audiences, and where fans find whats next in music,” said Gabriele. “I’m excited to join the team. As an artist myself, Im passionate about bringing tools to creators, and great experiences to listeners.”

Rajamannar becomes new president of WFA
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has elected Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer as its new president. He will serve a two-year term as president, with the option to extend for a further two years.

Rajamannar has worked for Mastercard since 2013, and has led the company’s marketing transformation, including the integration of the marketing and communication functions, evolution of its Priceless experiential platform, and creation of cutting-edge marketing-led business models into the core of the company.

He replaces David Wheldon, CMO at RBS, who has been president since 2015. Wheldon will continue to serve on WFA’s executive committee as regional VP for Western Europe.

“The opportunity in front of marketers today to make a difference for their brand, their business and even the world is tremendous. I am honoured to pick up and carry the torch as President of WFA, an organization committed to elevating and advancing the activities of our profession, and a role I am convinced will become even more important in the years to come,” said Rajamannar.

Rajamannar’s election is part of a complete leadership reshuffle at the WFA, which has also seen Philip Myers, SVP of global policy and government affairs at PepsiCo, named deputy president.

Naver’s Line gives Shin role as co-CEO
Jungho Shin, chief wow officer at Line Corporation, has been appointed co-CEO of the company. As of 1 April, Line will have two representative directors: Takeshi Idezawa, CEO and president, and Shin.

Shin has been behind the creation of services—including the Line messaging app—and has led the companys growth internationally. As a representative director, he will focus on bolstering the competitiveness of Line’s services and promoting innovation—assuming responsibility for creating services and the companys operations. Idezawa will focus on the management side, as well as revenue, organisational structure, human resources, and recruitment.

Four make moves within MediaCom
MediaCom UK has made changes from within with Claudine Collins, Satin Reid, Danny Donovan, and Paul Cooper all seeing their roles change.

Collins will become the agency’s first ever chief client officer. Reid, previously joint MD of MediaCom London, will be promoted and succeed Collins as the sole UK MD. While Donovan, who shared the London MD role with Reid, will take on the role of MD retail & commerce. Cooper, currently MD of MediaCom North, has also had his role expanded to COO of MediaCom North.

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by a brilliant team and a big part of what makes them so great is their passion for what they do,” said Josh Krichefski, CEO of MediaCom UK. “Claudine, Satin, Danny and Paul have all played important roles for us and they’ll continue to do so. They have all worked closely with me to define their new roles, making sure we are playing to each of their individual strengths. I’m excited for what the future holds for our agency and I’m proud to be leading the charge alongside this team.”

Bidalgo picks Gold to lead UK operations
Ad automation software provider Bidalgo has chosen Oliver Gold as UK country manager as it opens its London office. With 16 years of experience in digital media, Gold will oversee all UK operations for the company, including the development of strategic business relationships with marketers and channel partners.

Before joining Bidalgo, Oliver was UK managing director at mobile adtech company YOC, and he held several leadership positions at companies including Microsoft, Daily Mail Group and Adform.

“I am excited to head up UK business operations and am looking forward to building out a best in class team,” said Gold. “Bidalgo has seen incredible success across EMEA, and the launch of our new Western European hub creates a fabulous opportunity for continued growth and diversification into new markets and sectors. I am very much looking forward to driving this forward.”

Gallinari joins Criteo’s AI Lab
Criteo has appointed Patrick Gallinari, a renowned French researcher of neural networks, to its AI Lab. He will participate in the scientific animation of the Criteo AI Lab and work with a team of researchers to support and advance deep learning research.

Prior to joining the Criteo AI Lab, which was created in June 2018, Gallinari was director of the computer laboratory at Sorbonne University. Here, Gallinari was responsible for the machine learning and information access (MLIA) team. He teaches statistical learning and directs doctoral students on key topics in this field. His work focuses heavily on algorithmic aspects of machine learning, as well as application domains that involve the analysis of semantic data.

“In recent years, the interest and investments in artificial intelligence and deep learning research has risen rapidly in France,” said Gallinari. “The launch of the Criteo AI Lab has contributed tremendous credibility and momentum for this movement. I look forward to lending my academic and industrial perspective to the important work already being done by the world-class research teams at the Criteo AI Lab.”

Monetate hires Rivera as CRO
Richard Rivera has been appointed chief revenue officer of customer experience optimisation and personalisation platform Monetate. He will fortify expansion efforts as the company supports a growing number of retail and other digital experience brands globally across 10 countries.

Rivera brings more than 20 years of business development and customer-centric experience to Monetate with a track record of scaling hyper-growth technology companies. He’s held prior leadership positions with Dialpad, Medallia, Fuze, BMC Software and BladeLogic, is the founder of GenNow Sales Consulting, and author of several books and programmes on sales and consulting leadership.

“Richard brings a fresh perspective to Monetate and his strength in growing billion-dollar technology companies and start-ups help position our company for long-term success,” said Stephen Collins, Monetate CEO. “Our priority is to help brands grow more of their own best customers and to increase overall shopper lifetime value. Richard will be an integral part of continuing and expanding on this mission.”

Noren joins GeoSpock in non-executive capacity
GeoSpock has appointed Pontus Noren to a non-executive role on its board of directors. The move coincides with a £2m investment from Parkwalk Advisors.

Having worked in the IT industry for over 20 years, Noren brings a wealth of experience within the technology ecosystem. He is currently vice chairman of the board at Cloudreach, an international cloud computing consultancy, where he was previously CEO. Noren will now help GeoSpock’s board and executive teams drive the company’s next phase of growth.

“GeoSpock is a hugely exciting company and I’m inspired by its achievements so far, as well as its potential for the future,” said Noren. “With its technology at the cutting edge of spatial big data, GeoSpock helps feed my passion for innovation. I look forward to playing a key role in the delivery of GeoSpock’s vision, and working with my Board colleagues and executive teams to build on the company’s further success.”

The £2m investment from Parkwalk, which will be use to support the company’s international expansion and build on its client accounts, comes on the back of a recently-closed £10m funding round. GeoSpock has now raised a total of £21.25m.

Degree 53 names Benstead as digital director
User development, design, and software development firm Degree 53 has appointed Chris Benstead as digital director. He will be overseeing the day-to-day digital delivery for clients and working alongside the commercial team and prospective clients to ensure they get the most out of their digital strategy.

Benstead has been working as digital strategist at Degree 53 since its foundation in 2013 and has been playing a key role in advising on product development strategy for the company’s clients. He brings over 10 years of digital experience, having previously worked at Betfred and HP. Chris’ background is in the identification of the client’s core business requirements and understanding how and where value can be added to a proposition through the use of digital.

“I’m excited at this opportunity to continue the great work our team has been producing over the years,” said Benstead. “It’s amazing to see how our company has grown and developed since we first started. We’ve gone from working with online gambling clients to those in finance, travel, utilities and education to name a few. I remember when there was only 20 of us in the office and now, there are more than 130 – the company has been growing thanks to our transferable digital skills and a variety of services we are able to provide – from design and development to consultancy and ongoing support. I am lucky enough to see the work the team produces every day for our clients and am excited to help us progress and to lead the team to new opportunities.”

Kosinski joins Tru Optik as EVP of sales
Richard Kosinski has been hired as executive vice president of sales by Tru Optik, an audience intelligence and data-management platform. He will be responsible for growing Tru Optik’s revenue, partnerships, and global expansion.

Most recently, Kosinski served as the managing director of Blue Ocean Partnership, LLC where he focused on new business development for adtech and digital media companies in the US and international markets.  He was also previously president and chief revenue officer for Receptiv, an early stage in-app mobile video company acquired by Verve in 2018 and served as US president of Unruly, a video technology company acquired by News Corp in 2015.  He has also held key management positions at Quantcast, Westwood One, Dow Jones and Yahoo.

“The digital revolution has come full circle with OTT and Connected TV,” said Kosinski. “For 70 years, brands and agencies have looked to the home TV set to reach audiences, build brands and increase both awareness and sales. In OTT and Connected TV, we see a convergence of addressability and accountability, driven by massive adoption of smart TV devices, popular brand-safe content, and robust data – all on a tried and true platform. Tru Optik is leading this revolution and I’m all too eager to enlist.”

Bridge hires Gröger to run German office
Partner marketing agency Bridge has appointed David Gröger to head up its first international office in Berlin, Germany. Under his leadership, the Berlin office will look to grow its portfolio of local clients, which already includes Warner Bros. and Square Enix, across brand and entertainment categories. The team will also work with London to strengthen access to European markets for Bridge’s existing global brands, such as Danone Waters and Visa.

Gröger joins from Sony Pictures Germany, where he worked as head of partnership campaigns, overseeing partnerships such as Angry Birds & Citroen and James Bond Spectre & Heineken. Previous to that he worked as Head of Trade Marketing at Walt Disney Company.

“I’m delighted to be part of BRIDGE’s expansion into Europe,” said Gröger. “Our unique use of technology enables us to identify original and ground-breaking brand partnerships and I know there is huge appetite for this new approach among German clients.”

Shambroom becomes CMO at Deputy
Deputy, a workforce management software company, has hired Jennifer Shambroom as chief marketing officer, expanding its global team to San Francisco. She will lead the global marketing teams across Sydney, London and Atlanta and contribute to the company’s efforts of building out a new office and expanding the team based in San Francisco.

As the CMO of YouAppi, the company was named to Deloitte’s 15th Fastest Growing Company in Bay Area, grew revenue over 16,000 percent, and Shambroom was responsible for leading global teams across 15 offices worldwide while driving key marketing strategies. Shambroom also authored her first book, The Everything Guide to Mobile Apps, the ‘first-ever’ resource on how to market mobile applications.

“I am excited to welcome Jennifer to the team and to have her on board for this next part of Deputy’s journey,” said Steven Power, global president at Deputy. “Her experience leading teams across high-growth tech companies like Lookout, Motricity, Payfone, Crittercism and YouAppi put her in great stead to build a superior global marketing team at Deputy.”

Parsec appoints Heimlich as president
Mobile ad network Parsec Media has hired Adam Heimlich as president. In this newly created role, he will focus on new revenue streams and products for the firm and will report to Parsec Media CEO Marc Guldimann.

Heimlich led search marketing at Razorfish, and later at Horizon Media, he founded HX, the first tech and fee-transparent trading desk within a major TV agency. In his most recent role, SVP of media at Gale Partners, Heimlich helped brand advertisers adopt new advertising technologies and data-driven strategies.

“I am excited to join the team at Parsec,” said Heimlich. “What inspires me most is the company’s commitment to scientific-level accountability and transparency, which can be seen in their cost-per-second metric. I have long championed these qualities, because brands need to make decisions based on actual evidence –whether it’s about performance of an ad or performance of a partner.”