Tuesday, August 4, 2015
- MEC
MEC promoted Bruce Kiernan and Zsuzsa Szemere to performance marketing practice lead and digital strategy practice lead, respectively. Kiernan will be responsible for delivering performance marketing strategies for clients while expanding the agency's data and audience planning capabilities. He previously served as senior director of programmatic, leading all programmatic strategy for client AT&T. Szemere will lead MEC's Digital Strategy team, streamlining communications with senior clients as well as shareholders to deliver integrated media plans. She has more than 14 years of media experience, most recently leading digital for clients IKEA and Tiffany & Co. Previously, Szemere held digital roles at Time Warner Cable, Kodak, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cisco Systems, Siemens, MTV, Goldman Sachs and DuPont. She also spent time at J3, Neo@Ogilvy New York and MindShare London. "We continue to make strategic investments in our digital offer to keep pace with client demands," said Shenan Reed, president, digital, MEC North America. "Bruce and Zsuzsa are proven talents capable of pushing our agency and our clients' businesses forward. Their experience navigating the complexities of our evolving media environment will allow us to more seamlessly integrate data and digital into everything we do, driving ROI for clients across our multi-functional teams." - DDB New York
DDB New York hired Bruno Oppido as head of art and Lucas Panizza as executive creative director. Both will report to Icaro Doria, chief creative officer. After beginning his career at DDB Brazil, Oppido spent the past eight years at F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi. Over the course of his 11-year career as an art director, Oppido has worked for global brands including Electrolux, FEDEX, Honda, Leica Camera, Nike, P&G, Pinacoteca Museum, Skol Beer (InBev) and Telefonica. An Argentinean native, Panizza previously served as executive creative director at Santo Buenos Aires. Before that, Panizza was executive creative director at Grey Argentina. Prior to Grey, he spent more than a decade as creative director at agencies in Argentina, including Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy Argentina, DDB Argentina, and VegaOlmosPonce (now Ponce Buenos Aires). "We are so pleased to welcome two incredible talents, Bruno and Lucas, to DDB New York's team as our agency continues to elevate its creative output," said Doria. "We look forward to witnessing the strong creative work they will deliver for our clients." - Pitch
Pitch added Chris Kyriakos as executive director, integrated production. Kyriakos will report to Pej Sabet, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Pitch, and will lead the agency's Broadcast, Print, and Digital production teams. He will also help supervise operations at Bicep Productions, the agency's in-house production and post-production studio. Kyriakos has more than 15 years of experience working with agencies, including Crispin Porter and Bogusky (CP+B), 72andSunny, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Made Movement. As vice president and executive producer at CP+B, Kyriakos produced award-winning integrated campaigns including Burger King's "Whopper Freak Out" and Microsoft's "I'm a PC." "We are proud to have Chris join the Pitch team," said Sabet. "With his exceptional talent and experience, we are looking forward to him leading the charge on the continued development and expansion of our production departments as we continue to strive to provide our clients with the best possible work." - Digital Kitchen
Digital Kitchen tapped Christopher Burns as managing director of innovation & brand experience. In a new role created him, Burns will be responsible for stewarding customer experience strategy, content marketing, experiential design and product development across the agency's three offices, working with clients like HBO, Microsoft, Netflix and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He will report to Bill Fritsch, CEO of Digital Kitchen. Most recently, Burns was vice president, marketing for Catamaran, a pharmacy benefits managers. Previously, Burns worked at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a Digital Kitchen client, where he served as director, content & entertainment curation. While there, his collaboration with Digital Kitchen led to work that garnered both a Grand Prix Design Lion at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and a Gold Design Pencil at the One Show. "Chris's experience set hits the sweet spot in terms of the role DK plays as brand builder and transformation agent for our clients," said Fritsch. "He understands how strategic content, technology and emotionally resonating creative work are the foundations for true innovation within a client's business." - Yamamoto
Minneapolis agency Yamamoto hired Andy Thieman as executive creative director and Lori Sharbono as director of business development. Thieman and Sharbono will be members of the agency's leadership team and report to CEO Kathy McCuskey. Thieman joins the agency from General Mills, where he worked on Wheaties, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Lucky Charms and Green Giant. Prior to General Mills, he served in a variety of creative leadership roles for J.C. Penney and Target. Thieman began his career at Martin Williams and Colle+McVoy in Minneapolis where he worked on integrated campaigns for regional, national and worldwide brands. He also founded The Minneapolis Egotist, a Midwest advertising blog and part of the Egotist Network. Sharbono joins Yamamoto after 15 years of leading business development at Periscope in Minneapolis. While there, she helped the agency find and win national and global clients across various industries. Before Periscope, she ran business development at both Campbell Mithun and Bozell Worldwide. "Talent drives agency growth, and we couldn't ask for two higher caliber people to join our team," said McCuskey. "Andy's balance of creative agency and big brand client-side perspective, combined with Lori's unrivalled business development acumen, is a powerful addition to our team. They are great people who share our values and vision and are ready to play hard to help us achieve it." - Two by Four
Two by Four hired Matt Scholes as senior vice president, director of strategy and media. Scholes will serve on the agency executive management team and head strategic development in both Chicago and Chattanooga offices, reporting to David Stevenson, president and executive creative director of Two by Four. In previous roles, Scholes served as executive vice president for Leo Burnett in Chicago, where he led the agency's global relationship with Kellogg, a role he had also held for several years at JWT. While at McCann WorldGroup, he led the agency's global relationship with Nestle. "We are thrilled to welcome Matt to the team and we can't wait to feel his impact on the business," said Stevenson. "His strategic leadership and determination will help us produce magnetic ideas and focused, quality work." Added Scholes: "While much has changed in our business it's important not to forget the things which have stayed the same; the need for genuine insights into people and their behavior, for creativity and ideas that make consumers glad they spent time with our brands, and for brands with clear convictions about what they are and to whom they should appeal." - Smith Brothers
Josef Bookert joined Smith Brothers as a social media and public relations manager. He joins the agency from MARC USA where he managed social and PR strategy for brands such as Cooper Tire, Rite Aid, Huntington Bank and Payless. Rachel Norris joined the agency as an assistant digital content creator. She will be responsible for aiding the content creation team in brainstorming, styling and photography for various clients. Norris joins SBA from Commonwealth Press. Lastly, Rob Doerzbacher relocated from Greensboro, NC to join the SBA team as a senior copywriter. Most recently, Doerzbacher was an associate creative director at SFW in Greensboro where he worked on clients such as Char-Broil, Kobalt Tools, Texas Pete Hot Sauce, Green Mountain Gringo Salsa, Fruit of the Loom Activewear, Jerzees and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. - The Community
The Community, part of SapientNitro, named Andy Amendola as director of digital strategy. Based in Miami, Amendola will report to Andrew Speyer, head of strategy. Most recently, Amendola was director of digital strategy at Y&R/Bravo Miami, where he developed the U.S. Hispanic digital strategy for Coors Light and SC Johnson brands such as Glade and Scrubbing Bubbles. Prior to that, he helped Campbell's Soup Company drive social strategy across all its brands. Amendola was also director of strategy at the New York office of Fanscape, part of The Marketing Arm, overseeing social strategy for brands such as Snickers, TruTV and HISTORY. "Andy will lead digital and social media strategies for our clients, while also helping redefine how we connect with consumers in today's fragmented and frenetic communications landscape," said Speyer. "He'll work closely with creative, strategy and account teams to help them think and develop work that is mobile and digital first." - Optimedia
Optimedia promoted Karyn Johnson to executive vice president, managing director, digital for its U.S. operations. Johnson joined Optimedia nine years ago and most recently served as managing director, digital -- west. Johnson will be tasked with driving strategy, growth and innovation within the digital offering at Optimedia. Her role has expanded to cover all digital strategy and investment across the U.S. portfolio. She will report to David Ehlers, CEO of Optimedia U.S. Johnson will relocate to the New York office of Optimedia this summer. - Manifest
John Conmy, formerly vice president and managing director at iCrossing, joined newly-created Manifest as executive vice president, client services. The new agency was formed by the recent combination of Manifest Digital and McMurry/TMG to connect experience design, emerging technology and content to deliver engaging customer experiences for brands. Conmy reports to Carryn Quibell, president of Manifest. Prior to iCrossing, Conmy was vice president, client partner at Razorfish. Prior to that, he was managing director/eCommerce practice lead at Tribal DDB Worldwide. "John is that rare combination of talents who fully understands clients and technology because he has lived both and has proven and highly regarded experience in account management, team leadership, and software development," said Quibell. "We are looking forward to his achievements at Manifest." - TNT and TBS
TNT and TBS hired Joey Chavez as senior vice president of original programming for TNT and promoted Thom Hinkle to senior vice president of original programming for TBS. In addition, Robin Pelleck was elevated to vice president of digital content for TNT & TBS original programming, and Meredith Zamsky was hired as vice president of production for TNT. - Parmigiano-Reggiano
After twenty-five years as the director of the US information office for the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano, Nancy Radke is retiring, with Danielle Caponi Bolla and Federico Bolla of Ponte PR & Marketing succeeding her. - Thunderhead
Thunderhead tapped Sally Slarke as vice president, North America sales and Jeremy Swartz as vice president, Australia and New Zealand. - NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal promoted Ari Perler to senior vice president, research & strategy, NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada. - Starz
Starz hired Jeffrey A. Hirsch as president of global marketing and product planning, a new position. Hirsch will oversee the development of new Starz products and services for the company's current and prospective new distributors, both domestic and abroad. He most recently served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer, residential services at Time Warner Cable. - iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia hired Kenny Day as senior vice president, political sales and strategy. - EYE Corp Media
EYE Corp Media promoted Judd S. Mohel to sales manager, national accounts in New York. - Cardlytics
Cardlytics named Dani Cushion as chief marketing officer. - Digitalist
SAP is launching, Digitalist, a digital publication that will showcase under-the-radar trends and insights about the digital economy. Elana Varon, former executive editor of CIO Magazine, has been tapped to lead Digitalist as editor-in-chief. - CBX
Jodi Sutherland joined CBX as vice president, engagement group director. - Victorious
Victorious hired Julia Tang as vice president of marketing, Tony Zameczkowski as vice president and managing director, international and Kathleen Hahn as vice president of strategy and partnerships. - Benchworks
Benchworks promoted Brenda Vujanic to executive vice president. - Gifted Youth
Gifted Youth signed director Evan Silver for U.S. commercial representation. - Pac-12 Networks
Jonathan Leess was promoted to executive vice president of operations for the Pac-12 Networks. - Ntropic
Ntropic added Ryan Duggan as creative director of the NYC office. - Marina Maher Communications
Marina Maher Communications hired Matthew Anderson as executive vice president, chief marketing officer; Annie Fileta as vice president, marketing; Edwin Endlich as senior vice president, digital consumer; and Matt Duralek as vice president, talent acquisition. - WNET
Claude Johnson has been named vice president, development and communications at WNET. - Hudsun Media
Hudsun Media hired Sebastian Eldridge as managing director, and his brother Saxon Eldridge as head of digital production. - Tracx
Tracx hired Bennett Theimann, the former CEO of Mojiva, as chief financial officer. - Enso
Enso hired Catherine Nieves as a senior digital producer. - EVC Group
EVC Group hired Vincent I. Perrone as account supervisor. - Entercom
Entercom named Tony Lorino as program director of Hot AC station Star 94 in Atlanta. - Visible World
Visible World named David Kline as president and chief operating officer. - Simulmedia
Simulmedia promoted John Piccone to chief strategy officer. - Adventr
Adventr hired Nathaniel Wilson as executive vice president of sales and marketing. - Guardian News & Media
Guardian News & Media tapped Chris Carr as executive vice president, finance, for Guardian US. - ACNE
ACNE promoted Line Postmyr to CEO/executive producer to lead the North American office. Postmyr previously served as managing director/executive producer. In addition, Rania Hattar joins the company as executive producer. - S4M
S4M tapped Frederic Joseph as global chief operating officer and CEO, UK.
- Epic Rights
Epic Rights promoted Jesper Poulsen to vice president of artist digital media and brand development.
