• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, November 18, 2015

In a bid to advance its ambitious expansion plans, POSSIBLE, part of WPP Digital, has hired a handful of global senior leaders, including John Simpson, who has been named global CMO and Martha Hiefield, the agency’s new global Chief Talent Officer. 

Simpson was previously founding vice president, marketing at Jama Software, and Hiefield was most recently president of POSSIBLE’s flagship Seattle office. 

“We care about results and this leadership appointment strategy will herald a whole new level of positive growth at the agency, which is already burgeoning in terms of client work and staffing,” says Shane Atchison, Global CEO, POSSIBLE.

The agency currently has more than 1,300 employees in 19 offices around the world. Clients include Microsoft, Proctor & Gamble, AT&T, Shell, and the Coca-Cola Company. 

The agency has also appointed Rebecca Bedrossian as Global Content Director. She will lead all editorial initiatives having previously served as Managing Editor at Communication Artsmagazine. 

Also joining the shop is Gareth Jones the agency’s new managing director in Seattle, filling the void left by the elevation of Hiefield. Previously, Jones was Global Chief Brand and Content Officer and International CMO at DigitasLBi.

The agency’s strategy includes diversifying its staff and leadership team. Hiefield, the new  Chief Talent Officer said,  “Recently, we were at the 3 Percent Conference to support increasing the ratio of female creative directors within our industry. We are taking it a step further and going beyond the diversity demographics of gender, ethnicity and geographies to recognize the power of diverse thinking.” 

That course will help the agency bring a broader and fresher set of ideas to the table, said Hiefield, the better to “drive creative work forward for our clients and their consumers." 

Adds Atchison:  “We see tremendous value in creating a modern agency that brings together a diverse team of people with unusual experiences, ideas and relationships from not only other agencies but the realms of media, software, startups and beyond.” 

In recent months, the agency also hired Daniel Chu, previously of Deutsch, as Global Chief Creative Officer, John Cunningham, formerly of Razorfish, as Global CTO and Paul Soon, formerly of XM Asia Pacific, as CEO of APAC.