It seems that a lot of people are changing jobs lately, a trend brought about no doubt by the huge disruption of the pandemic. That means plenty of agencies are seeing new infusions of talent, and others are getting promoted while agencies continue to bounce back and gain new clients.
Take a run through this week’s Revolving Door to see who changed addresses.
AbelsonTaylor
Health and wellness ad agency AbelsonTaylor has promoted creative directors Marissa Ori and Richard How to vice president, creative director. Ori and How will lead creative teams across multiple accounts.
Ori’s experience ranges from big pharma clients to small startups, nutraceuticals to life-saving rare disease and oncology brands. She joined AbelsonTaylor in 1999.
How joined AbelsonTaylor in 2011 and played a key role in concepting the agency’s recent rebranding.
Astound Commerce
Global digital commerce specialist Astound Commerce has appointed three new members to its global senior leadership team. Thomas Spellios has been appointed chief financial officer, Matthew Barker has been hired as chief people officer and Maria (Maru) Velandia has been named global employer brand manager.
Ayzenberg Group
Ayzenberg Group has opened the Ayzenberg London office, with industry vet Ben Walsh serving as the agency’s managing director. Walsh is a senior expert in technology and entertainment marketing, with experience in senior roles at HTC Europe, Samsung, J. Walter Thompson, Sony and EMI music.
Ayzenberg London also welcomed Simon Ward as the office’s strategic partner. Ward has had senior roles at Interbrand, BBDO and Brodeur Partners.
C&G Partners
Creative studio C&G Partners has promoted associate partner Alin Tocmacov to partner of the firm. Tocmacov is an exhibit and experience designer with a background of more than two decades in leading multidisciplinary creative teams for clients in Europe, the Middle East, Canada and the U.S. His projects focus on the “phygital,” the intersection between physical and digital design experiences. Tocmacov joined C&G Partners in 2014.
Cactus
On the heels of its 30th anniversary, Denver creative agency Cactus has hired a string of new creative, production, marketing and media specialists.
Kay Borleis joins as senior art director. She was formerly an art director at Sterling Rice Group, Boulder. Brad Ficek, media director, comes to Cactus after leading media for brands including Fruit of the Loom, Vail and Dish Network. Kylie Forcinito, senior digital product supervisor, previously worked as a project manager at agency Vladimir Jones, Denver, before joining Integer, Denver as an account supervisor. Jazmin Whitlock, media supervisor, was previously digital marketing lead at Dish Network, as well as the social media manager for HomeAdvisor/Angie’s List. Nicole Parker, associate director of strategy, worked for BBDO, Slingshot and GS&F. Danielle Reino, account director, previously worked for Leo Burnett, VMLY&R and The Shipyard.
Cheil Worldwide
Samsung marketing company Cheil Worldwide and 96 partner companies in South Korea signed an environmentally-friendly practice pledge, which includes forming a consensus and carrying out eco-friendly tasks at content production sites. Cheil Worldwide plans to expand the subject of agreement to all 530 partners.
In line with recent growing awareness on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) management across diverse industries, the initiative aims to help partner companies understand the purpose and to encourage their participation.
Doner
Agency Doner has hired Felipe Cabrera as svp, strategy director and Justin Bilicki as evp, executive creative director. Cabrera, in his second tour at Doner, will help scale the integrated strategy team, while Bilicki will provide creative leadership for brands including Travelocity, Zyrtec and Listerine.
Cabrera worked as svp, strategy director at Doner in 2018. Most recently, he served as the head of strategy at Wunderman Thompson Puerto Rico, stemming from his two decades of brand-building across the U.S. general and Hispanic markets. Previously, Cabrera held strategic leadership positions at FCB and Leo Burnett, and worked in brand marketing at Procter & Gamble.
Bilicki has nearly two decades of experience in the advertising industry and has received awards including Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils and Art Directors Club Pencils.
Fig
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has named independent creative agency Fig as its first agency of record. Fig is charged with creating a cross-channel brand campaign for MoMA that will launch this fall, in addition to future experiential initiatives.
“MoMA was seeking an agency to make it top-of-mind for New Yorkers and tourists alike by highlighting the unique experiences the museum offers,” said Mark Figliulo, founder and creative chairman of Fig. “We immediately understood the challenge MoMA is facing, and created a thought-provoking idea that can live across all touchpoints of the MoMA experience.”
Happy Cog
Happy Cog, a web and mobile development, design, and digital marketing agency, has added nine new hires across its digital marketing and development teams. They will be led by Keelan Crampsey, who joins the agency as director of digital marketing services. He was most recently director of digital media at Amsive Digital (formerly Path Interactive).
New hires include: Lauren Harris, paid media specialist, who joins from the FCA Europe team; Eliza Young, paid media specialist, who joins from Resolution Media; Nicholos Battle, paid media specialist, who joins from Horizon Media; Jean Baptiste Zbylut, SEO specialist, who comes from an apparel business he owned on Amazon for years; and Dresean Ryan, technical SEO strategist.
Additional hires include developers Mark Reeves and Max Myers; full-charge bookkeeper Amanda Medina; and design Intern Sally Park.
IWCO Direct
IWCO Direct, a provider of data-driven performance marketing solutions, has named Reid Holmes as its new executive creative director. Holmes brings more than 25 years of experience in marketing to the company, where he will lead the creative services team. In addition to his recent experience as an independent consultant, Holmes has served at agencies including Doner, McCann, Carmichael Lynch and Ogilvy & Mather.
Labelium
Labelium Play, North America, a full-service agency dedicated to high engagement platforms, has entered into a partnership with Neutronian, an independent data quality measurement platform, to score data quality and performance in digital brand campaigns.
The new partnership marks Neutronian’s first commitment to certify all data providers used by a marketing agency. The agency’s partnership with Neutronian will ensure greater data privacy compliance as well as higher digital advertising campaign performance.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
Creative agency M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment recently announced two new additions to its growing senior leadership team with the hire of Jaclyn Sisbarro as senior vice president and Tomas Seefried as vice president. Sisbarro will lead the brown spirits portfolio along with some of the technology practices while Seefried will lead some of the sport-focused accounts.
Sisbarro has managed campaign development, influencer partnerships, media relations, and special events for brands including the Unilever Ice Cream portfolio, Patrón Tequila, The Macallan Single Malt Whisky and Aperol. Seefried ran his own consultancy, de-fined, for brands including Bed Bull Music, The NFL, Tom Dixon, Nike and others.
MSQ
MSQ has been appointed by national tourism agency VisitBritain to handle its global digital integrated brand activity. The agency was selected following a competitive pitch.
MSQ will work under the newly-refreshed “Great” campaign guidelines to develop all digital activity, including film and integrated brand campaigns, to position Britain internationally as the visitor destination of choice for 2022 and beyond. The account will be run out of MSQ’s new London office in Covent Garden, with support from MSQ global hubs in Asia and North America. MBAstack, MSQ’s customer acquisition and engagement agency, will lead the account.
National CineMedia
Cinema advertising network National CineMedia (NCM), has hired Daniel Hahn as senior vice president, East Coast sales. Hahn, who will be based in New York, will be responsible for sales strategy and revenue growth for NCM’s on-screen and integrated advertising offerings.
Hahn joins NCM from Adobe where he led sales for Ad Cloud TV. Before that, Daniel spent 16 years at Discovery in various leadership positions across the company’s portfolio of networks and digital platforms. Prior to his career in media sales management, he was an agency media buyer, with roles at both Zenith and The Media Edge.
Partners + Napier
Creative company Partners + Napier has recruited impressive talent from all over the U.S. to drive the national agency’s continued growth.
In his new role as director, growth, Rochester native Matt Schwartz will lead all business development efforts at Partners + Napier, including strategic prospecting and pitching. He is also tasked with building and strengthening industry partnerships, and will oversee the agency’s PR, social, content development and internal communications. He was previously with Mother New York.
Lisa Della Piana joins as associate creative director. She spent six years at MullenLowe working on such clients as Royal Caribbean, JetBlue, US Cellular and Ulta Beauty, most recently as an associate creative director.
Janine Perry joins as director, strategy to lead the agency’s commitment to “audience-led” insights. Perry was previously senior strategist, brand and multicultural at Edelman. She has also held key strategy roles at sparks & honey, DigitasLBi, and McGarryBowen.
Rachel Meyer joins Partners + Napier as director of media. She was previously associate media director at Dentsu McGarryBowen and prior to that, she worked at UM Worldwide.
Social Element
Independent social media agency The Social Element, recently added Kendall DiBella as its new North American head of accounts. She will lead the account team, focusing on commercial growth and relationships.
Previously DiBella spent the last three years as senior director for client partnerships at Atlanta agency Dagger. Before that, DiBella spent 10-plus years working for various preeminent digital shops, including 360i, Huge and AKQA.
Swiftly
Digital platform Swiftly has partnered with The Save Mart Companies. The partnership looks to unlock new revenue opportunities and increased digital experiences for its customers across all stores.
Through this partnership, The Save Mart Companies will leverage the Swiftly platform across its banners, connecting digital and in-store shopping experiences and providing a seamless customer experience
Third Street
Former CP+B advertising executive Marie-Alice “Lisa” Armand has joined Third Street as the Chicago agency’s director of client success. A 15-year veteran of account management, most notably at CP+B, Armand was recruited back into agency life from a successful real estate career. In this newly formed role, Armand will ensure strong relationships with Third Street clients, including SunFed Ranch Beef, Edlong, and Learning Resources.
At CP+B Armand helped launch the BMW Mini in the United States. She was also part of the launch of the startup creative content agency Magma, where she oversaw new business and account service.