• by Steve McClellan , January 14, 2013

IPG Mediabrands’ Orion Trading, the media barter unit, has promoted Scott Downs to executive vice president, director of client and media services, the agency has confirmed. The shop has also hired Barbara DiMaria as senior vice president, director of national broadcast, who will report to Downs.

Downs replaces Laura Ryan, who was named president of Orion Trading U.S. in September and to whom Downs reports. Ryan in turn succeeded Tom Telesco, who was promoted to worldwide president of Orion Trading. 

Downs joined Orion in August of 2012 as senior vice president, director of client services. In his new role, in addition to client services, he will oversee local and national broadcast buying, print and out of home, as well as digital.

DiMaria previously spent seven years at the Martin Agency’s media arm Ingenuity Media. Most recently she was senior vice president, director of investments.

Ryan cited Downs’ “strategic and tactical experience,” and DiMaria’s “deep expertise” in the national broadcast buying sector.

The moves are the latest of a series of new hires at the agency that come amid a flurry of new business activity as clients have taken a greater interest in acquiring ad time and space via media barter, where unwanted assets are traded for ads.

Within the past year, Orion Trading has brought in nearly 30 new clients that have helped boost global revenues by 49% with a double-digit billings increase. Last year the company confirmed that billings at Orion Trading exceed $1 billion, but it declined to provide an updated figure. The employee base has expanded by more than 25% to 350. Clients are said to include Six Flags Amusement Parks and Sony Electronics, although Orion would not confirm the identity of any clients.

Orion Trading is part of Orion Holdings, the Mediabrands division that manages $4 billion in global media billings and also includes Orion Capital (media investments), NSA Media (newspaper services), OAG (outdoor) and Wahlstrom (listing directory services). Last year the division formed Orion Printing, a global print management joint venture with Pitney Bowes.