• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 11, 2014

WPP media agency Maxus has appointed Jonathan Adams to the role of Chief Digital Officer in North America, the first hire by the agency’s new North America CEO Steve Williams, who joined the agency from PHD in June.

In his role, Adams is tasked with “harnessing digital performance and maximizing its potential, while mentoring and designing frameworks with Maxus planning teams to optimize communications across all platforms,” according to the agency. He will be based in New York and report to Williams.

“He’s smart, he cares, and his client partnering skills will help take us to another level when it comes to innovating with digital and data,” Williams said of his new hire.

For Adams the new job marks a return to the WPP fold, having previously worked at OgilvyOne, and The Media Edge (now MEC). He joins Maxus from iCrossing, where he was Senior Vice President and Lead of North American Media. At iCrossing, Adams directed the media and analytics practices, and led teams managing media for clients including DIRECTV, William’s Sonoma, PNC Bank, LEGO, Kellogg’s, Belk and Coca-Cola. Previously, he spent nine years with Digitas, which included tenure as SVP, Global Media.

The hire comes just two months after Maxus landed a huge digital account--NBC Universal’s domestic digital media duties after a review. Annual ad spending on that assignment, which includes the NBC Television Network and cable network properties, such as USA and MSNBC and the Universal Studios film business, is said to be more than $175 million. 

iCrossing said that Adams was being replaced by Christine Bensen, now senior vice president of media. Bensen previously managed iCrossing’s national display team, ad operations, and the Digital Media Strategy (DMS) and Digital Media Insights (DMI) groups. The Hearst-owned agency also said that COO Dave Johnson was taking the additional role of Chief Client Officer. 

This story has been updated to include input from iCrossing.