People on the Move
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
  • Stephane Auriol
    MARC USA Chicago
    MARC USA Chicago hired Stephane Auriol as Account Director, overseeing the agency's Gold Eagle account. This new position leverages Auriol's experience at Sears where as Senior Director for the Sears Auto group, he managed integrated marketing, brand strategy and positioning, digital marketing, promotional planning and shopper marketing. Prior to working in the automotive division, Auriol was Sears' Marketing Planning Manager for the Home Appliances group. "Being able to attract great talent like Stephane to our agency underscores the commitment we have made to build the best agency in Chicago," said Jean McLaren, President of MARC USA Chicago and CMO of MARC USA. "We are thrilled to have him as a central part of our growing team."
  • David Banta
    DDB Chicago

    David Banta joined DDB Chicago as senior vice president, group creative director. He will be responsible for a multidimensional creative team, handling the agency's Capital One account. Banta will report to John Maxham, chief creative officer of DDB Chicago. Banta most recently served as executive vice president, executive creative director at Hill Holliday in Boston, where he led creative on Liberty Mutual Insurance, Merrell Footwear, Capella University and Cadillac. Prior to Hill Holliday, he was a creative director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder, CO, where he worked on VW, Burger King, Miller Lite, Shimano and Giro. "We're so psyched to welcome David to the DDB Chicago team," said Maxham. "The diversity of his creative portfolio impressed me the most. I didn't look for typical financial service experience because frankly, Cap One is anything but a typical financial services brand. Despite their success, they maintain the spirit of a challenger brand. Dave is exactly the kind of gutsy creative that can channel that spirit."

  • Steve Orenstein
    Mistress
    Mistress hired Steve Orenstein as chief operating officer, a new position at the agency. Orenstein started his career at Y&R in New York in 1971 and was later transferred to LA to be the western regional finance director for the agency network. Most recently, he worked at 72andSunny as CFO/COO, helping manage the agency. When Orenstein began at 72andSunny, the independent agency had 30 employees. When Orenstein left there were 500 employees and the shop was acquired by MDC Partners. "We're thrilled to have Steve as part of Mistress," said Christian Jacobsen, Partner at Mistress. "We're celebrating our 5th anniversary next month and as we evolve we continue to deliver the most value to our clients. Steve has been where we are right now, successfully navigating the whitewater of growth. And he's not just an ops guy or a CFO, he's another colorful character in an industry built on characters. Ask anyone who he's worked with in the past and they'll say his greatest contributions are cultural."
  • Antonio Navas
    Nissan United

    Nissan United, an Omnicom unit, hired Antonio Navas as its first chief creative officer, a role previously overseen by Rob Schwartz as global creative president of TBWA Worldwide prior to his recent appointment to CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. Navas will oversee all global Nissan creative and content from both Omnicom and non-Omnicom agencies. He will be based out of the agency's New York headquarters. He joins Nissan United from Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, where he was executive creative director working on clients such as Toyota, Defence Force, ASB Bank, Lexus and Telecom. Prior to Saatchi, he did worked at Ogilvy, Goodby Silverstein, FCB, BBDO and Amster Yard. "After an expansive global search, and several conversations with Antonio, we knew we had found the right person to accelerate our global content and creative ambitions for Nissan," said Nissan United President, Jon Castle. "He has an exceptionally strong creative reputation and understands the role of setting the inspirational direction of the brand as well as governing the work from agencies around the world." Nissan United is comprised of executives from Nissan's global agencies of record, including TBWA, OMD, Interbrand, Designory, among others. NU oversees all activities for Omnicom and non-Omnicom agencies on behalf of Nissan.

  • Mehta Mehta
    Innocean USA
    Innocean USA names Mehta Mehta as vice president/group digital creative director. He will report to Innocean USA's executive creative director Greg Braun. Mehta replaces Tom Pettus, who joined Deutsch LA as executive vice president/group creative director in August. Mehta joins Innocean from San Francisco-based creative shop West where he served as head creative lead. Prior to West, Mehta served as creative director at Razorfish where he created new platforms and digital products for Mercedes-Benz. He has also worked at Tribal DDB working with the global Reebok team and R/GA where he served as a core member of the creative strategy team for Nike and Nokia. "Mehta's mix of digital and traditional creative experience along with his expertise in digital technology platforms is undeniably a huge asset to our team," said Braun. "He brings a contagious energy and enthusiasm for the industry at large, and has a nimble way of infusing trends in entertainment and pop-culture into his creative output. We're extremely excited to have him on-board."
  • Rehan Iqbal and Garen Karnikian
    True North
    True North promoted Rehan Iqbal to associate media director and Garen Karnikian to associate analytics director.
  • Bryce McTavish
    The Integer Group
    The Integer Group tapped Bryce McTavish as senior vice president, director of business development.
  • Chris Pomeroy
    MMGY Global
    MMGY Global opened its first European office in Madrid, hiring Chris Pomeroy as director global strategies and client services. Prior to joining MMGY, Pomeroy was CEO of Interface Tourism Spain.
  • Michelle Arsenault and Emily Grimes
    Mechanica
    Michelle Arsenault and Emily Grimes have joined Mechanica as brand directors responsible for working with the agency’s clients on brand positioning, business-to-business and business-to-consumer integrated campaign development, and the firm’s new business development, among other programs.
  • Brian Roddy
    OpenDNS
    OpenDNS added Brian Roddy as executive vice president of engineering and operations.
  • Patrick Hayes and Emily Bingham
    Red Door Interactive
    Red Door Interactive hired Patrick Hayes and Emily Bingham as project manager and community manager specialist, respectively.
  • Jason Brumbaugh
    Genius Brands International
    Genius Brands International hired Jason Brumbaugh as vice president of digital.
  • Darrell Coetzee
    George P. Johnson Experience Marketing
    George P. Johnson Experience Marketing hired Darrell Coetzee as general manager of its Boston and New York City offices. Coetzee was most head of consumer marketing at Jack Morton.
  • John Hancock
    AnchorOps
    AnchorOps hired John Hancock as vice president of sales.
  • Eivind Holmboe
    B-Reel
    B-Reel added Eivind Holmboe to its roster of directors.
  • Craig Weinberg
    3Q Digital
    3Q Digital hired Craig Weinberg as vice president of mobile strategy.
  • Erik Grazetti
    Loews Chicago Hotel
    Erik Grazetti joined the Loews Chicago Hotel as director of sales and marketing. Most recently, he served as the director of sales and marketing at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, as well as director of sales and marketing for Sofitel Washington, DC.
  • David Pritikin
    Anonymous Content
    Anonymous Content tapped David Pritikin to lead its newly created unscripted TV content division. Previously, Pritikin served as senior executive producer, production and development at Discovery Channel.
  • Karen Kirk
    Smith Brothers
    Karen Kirk joins Smith Brothers as executive administrator.
  • Ari Buchalter and Michael Lamb
    MediaMath
    MediaMath tapped Ari Buchalter and Michael Lamb as co-presidents to lead Platform and Commercial divisions of the organization, respectively.
  • Jennifer Dorian and Genevieve McGillicuddy
    Turner Broadcasting
    Turner Broadcasting hired Jennifer Dorian as general manager of Turner Classic Movies and promoted Genevieve McGillicuddy to vice president of brand activation and partnerships for TCM, up from senior director.
  • Petra Malenicka
    CNN International
    CNN International promoted Petra Malenicka to senior vice president, advertising sales, Europe and the Americas.
  • Chris Mottram
    UPROXX Sports
    Chris Mottram was named managing editor of UPROXX Sports.
  • Megan Dahlman
    Cutters
    Cutters added Megan Dahlman as executive producer.
  • Asim Razvi
    TDWI
    TDWI hired Asim Razvi as vice president of education and research.
  • Nick Lofting
    Lucky Post
    Lucky Post added Nick Lofting as editor.
  • Jessica Lichtenfeld
    THREE
    Jessica Lichtenfeld joined research consultancy THREE as senior strategist.
  • Jason Trobman
    Digital Pulp
    Digital Pulp hired Jason Trobman as chief technology officer. He joins the company from American Media where he served as vice president of engineering.
  • Kylie Ellis
    Rainmaker Entertainment
    Rainmaker Entertainment promoted Kylie Ellis to vice president of production at the Mainframe Entertainment television division.
  • Grant Walker
    Framestore
    Framestore promoted Grant Walker to senior CG art director.