Acceptable Ads Exchange

Acceptable Ads Exchange (AAX), a programmatic ad exchange dedicated to recovering revenue lost to ad blockers, has appointed industry veteran Scott Schwanbeck as its new CEO.

Schwanbeck has more than 20 years of media, tech and digital experience and joins AAX from Yieldmo, where he worked as executive VP of business development. He previously worked for a diverse set of companies from early-stage startups to large corporations including Vizu (acquired by Nielsen), drop.io (acquired by Facebook) and IGN Entertainment (acquired by News Corp).

Commenting on his new role, Schwanbeck said: “Media companies continue to be faced with the dual challenge of seeking fair value for their content, while ensuring a positive, less intrusive ad experience for their readers. AAX has quickly established itself as a leader in this complex challenge and I’m honoured to steer the company through the next phases of its evolution.”

Achievers

Rachel Jenkins joins employee engagement company Achievers as head of EMEA marketing. In her new role, Jenkins is responsible for supporting the company’s accelerated global growth and expanding Achievers’ European presence.

Jon Maddison, MD EMEA at Achievers, said: “Rachel is a dynamic and strategic senior marketing professional with close to fifteen years of experience in the B2B enterprise tech industry and she brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Achievers. There is understandably a lot of demand for powerful employee engagement solutions right now and we’re happy to have Rachel on board to help support our growth across EMEA.”

Jenkins brings close to nine years of experience working in various senior marketing roles at Workday where she helped to scale the business across Europe. During this time, she was responsible for establishing the marketing function from scratch, leading the UK team, and launching Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) into Europe.

Jenkins added: “I’m excited to join the pioneer in modern recognition platforms and am looking forward to extending the benefits our European customers are already experiencing to the wider EMEA region. With so much turmoil in the market, there is no better time for organisations to embrace technology to help them build resiliency in their culture, increase control on employee programme spend and fast track reigniting their businesses.”

Audience Store

Media agency veteran Matt Champion joins the programmatic technology activation company, Audience Store, as the first VP of client development and success.

Audience Store has called Champion a “key hire” as the company continues to expand its team of experts in response to a recent period of growth. In his new role at Audience Store, Champion will deliver efficiencies for clients and promote the company’s programmatic abilities to prospects.

Chris Phillips, MD of Audience Store, said: “We are thrilled to have such an industry heavyweight in Matt join our team and we are confident that he will contribute significantly to developing Audience Store. This appointment marks the latest exciting chapter for Audience Store and is just the start of further growth and development plans.”

Champion joins Audience Store from his role as COO of mobile start-up Slice, where he led the creation of an app that allowed consumers to control – and monetise – their stored personal data. Prior to this, he spent four years as Client Services Director at Dentsu’s mobile marketing agency Fetch, where he led the $20m Hotels.com account, overseeing its expansion into more than 100 markets. Champion has also previously been Director of Digital roles at both PHD and MediaCom.

Channel Factory

Global tech and data YouTube brand suitability platform, Channel Factory,  has announced two senior global hires, Rob Blake and Spencer Janis.

Blake joins Channel Factory as country manager UK to oversee operations in Great Britain, further the company’s overall mission to help leading global brands and agencies maximise their YouTube advertising and expand its team.

“Contextual suitability and maximum performance efficiency has never been more important,” said Blake. “The UK’s digital advertising industry is highly sophisticated and recognises that Channel Factory fosters a suitable digital video ecosystem which connects creators, brands, and consumers, ultimately resulting in massive gains in efficiency of media spend. I am excited to help a number of major brands increase their campaign performance.”

Previously, Blake was CRO at Realeyes where he helped brands and agencies to make better marketing decisions by measuring the data insight in creative execution. He was also CRO for Pocketmath, commercial director at MediaMath, and VP of sales at Partnerize. Prior to this, he spent five years as VP at AOL Advertising and three years as director of Advertising.com.

Janis joins Channel Factory as head of US Holding Company Partnerships – East and will be responsible for overseeing the holding companies and large-scale agencies on the East Coast. Janis has previous experience running sales teams within tech and media domestically with companies such as Viacom, Giant Media, and Hotspex, as well as globally with American Express and Financial Times.

Janis commented: “Advertisers on YouTube can leverage Channel Factory’s platform to ensure ads run on brand suitable and contextually relevant content. With brand safety high on the agenda across the globe, I can’t wait to join the mission to stop wasted spend and ensure quality content throughout the digital ecosystem.”

Control v. Exposed

Control v. Exposed (CvE), a marketing services partner that combines consultancy, tech and media, has appointed Laura Fordham as director, business strategy and development. CvE launched in Europe in September 2019 and, as a director, Fordham will play a crucial role in driving the growth of the agency.

Paul Frampton, president for Europe at CvE, commented: “I’m thrilled to have Laura driving our business development. Her passion for this industry as well as her enthusiasm for coaching and mentoring teams reflects our own CvE values and makes her the perfect addition to our team.”

Fordham spent 15 years within the media advertising and technology industry, with experience working for start-ups and large corporations. Prior to joining CvE Fordham worked for FreeWheel Advertisers where she led commercial strategy and execution across the company’s portfolio and technology business.

Commenting on her move to CvE, Fordham said: “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work with a pioneer in digital marketing that is helping so many clients evaluate their marketing technology and strategy to better suit the ‘new normal’ and business post-COVID19.”

Croud

Global digital marketing agency, Croud, hires Emil Bielski as UK MD.

The former chief strategy officer at iProspect brings with him 15 years of experience working in digital marketing. Prior to leading all craft disciples, data teams and strategic planning at iProspect, Bielski held senior roles in planning and new business within Group M (at MEC and Maxus, now merged to form Wavemaker).

In his new role, Bielski will sit on Croud’s operational board and report into CEO and co-founder Luke Smith. His key focuses will be clients, data and insights, planning, e-commerce and Google Marketing Platform.

Smith said: “I’m delighted to welcome Emil onboard; he’s going to be a key part of the next era for Croud as we develop our business further into data, technology and consultancy. What impressed me most since speaking to Emil is just how well regarded across the industry he is. His time spent working for network agencies and understanding the opportunity for Croud in today’s landscape makes him a great fit for where we’re headed; continuing to grow our offering as a fully-integrated digital-first global media agency.“

Episerver

Kirsten Allegri Williams has been appointed CMO of Episerver, a platform that focuses on growing businesses through customer-centric digital experiences.

She said: “What attracted me to Episerver the most was the breadth of its portfolio and how clearly its digital experience solutions are tied to business growth.

“The global crisis is a turning point for every industry. There is an undeniable shift toward digital-first which requires differentiated brand experiences and the need for CMOs, CIOs, and e-commerce leaders to rapidly adapt to changing conditions. Our customers need scalable technology with AI and actionable insights to solve real-world problems and create personalized engagement – we provide that in Episerver Content Cloud, Commerce Cloud and, now, Intelligence Cloud.”

As CMO of Episerver, Allegri Williams will lead the company’s global marketing and communications strategy, overseeing the brand consolidation of its Q4 2019 acquisitions.

Glow

Paul Wells has been appointed global marketing director of Glow, a Melbourne-based research technology firm.

Commenting on his appointment, Wells said: “It’s a great time to be in tech – and I’m especially looking forward to working with and learning from such a talented team. Glow has quickly established an enviable reputation as a real disruptor in this space, becoming one of the market research industry’s favourite secret weapons. I relish the challenges of this next phase of global expansion and helping the brand blow its cover.”

Glow CEO, Tim Clover, added: “Paul brings with him over two decades of marketing expertise and a wealth of experience across a number of sectors and disciplines. We sought him out for his strong leadership, strategic smarts and impressive track record of building international brands. He’s a great addition to our growing team.”

Prior to joining Glow, Wells spent a decade consulting for brands including Piaggio, Mercure Hotels, Walgreens Boots and the London 2012 Olympics. Wells has also worked in the Melbourne offices of MediaCom and Havas, where he led projects for PUMA, Cricket Australia and Fonterra.

Hiscox

Specialist global insurer Hiscox has promoted Russ Findlay to Group CMO. Findlay has been with the Hiscox Group since 2013, most recently working as CMO of Hiscox USA.

Findlay’s prior experience includes working as the Senior VP of Marketing for IHOP, CMO for Major League Soccer and VP of marketing for PepsiCo. He was awarded Marketer of the Year by the Association of National Advertisers in 2018 and has also been named one of the most influential marketers in the world by The Internationalist.

In his new role within Hiscox, Findlay will manage a global marketing team and be responsible for the company’s global marketing and brand-building activity across retails markets in Europe and the USA. Findlay expressed excitement about his promotion, saying: “I’m looking forward to working with all of our operating regions around the world to find new ways to share our unique story with our customers, brokers and partners.”

Findlay will report to Ben Walter, CEO of Hiscox Global Retail, who added: “Russ has done an extraordinary job transforming Hiscox USA’s marketing program and elevating the brand to become synonymous with small business insurance in the US.  I’m excited that the rest of the Hiscox Group will now benefit from his creativity and leadership as Group CMO and look forward to his marketing leadership as we embark on our next phase of growth.”

Journey Further

CFO Deepa Shah joins the advisory board of Journey Further, a performance marketing agency based in Leeds, Manchester and London, as a non-executive director.

Earlier this year, Shah founded her own management consultancy Lab Eight and has been brought on by Journey Further to advise on the agency’s international growth and strategy. She said: “I am thrilled to join the Journey Further team during an incredibly exciting period for the company.  I love working with ambitious businesses who see no end to their potential or growth, and Journey Further is certainly one of these.”

Shah will be working the agency’s founders Robin Skidmore (CEO), Matt Kwiecinski and Chris Rowett to support the Consultancy arm of the business which was launched following market changes brought about by COVID-19.

Skidmore added: “I’m delighted to have someone of Deepa’s capability alongside us to support our growth. Deepa’s track record at some of the world’s biggest agency groups speaks for itself and her expertise will be invaluable as we start to explore acquisitions and new openings abroad now and through 2021.”

MadeByShape

Manchester-based web design agency, MadeByShape, has appointed recent graduate Ella Dawson as its brand designer.

Dawson will work with the agency’s clients to help them achieve their goals and improve their brand strategy. She will also work collaboratively with MadeByShape’s team of designers, web developers, SEO experts to improve the agency’s workflow.

MadeByShape co-founder Andy Golpys said: “Ella is very talented, in fact she’s the best talent I’ve seen in years. Her eye for detail, approach to strategy and understanding of a brief are all exceptional. Her passion for what she does makes me confident that Ella will inject a positive and proactive approach to the team, as well as bring a youthful breath of fresh air.”

Dawson added: “I’m looking forward to bringing my passion for brand identity and improving clients’ brand strategies to a range of really exciting projects. It’s great that Andy and the team has put faith in a young designer, especially in the current climate.”

Throughout her studies Dawson has been active in the creative industry, undertaking freelance commissions with a variety of businesses from gifting, streetwear and lifestyle brands to assisting on the rebrand of a private healthcare company. She also runs her own design business, @petportraitsbyella.

Moore Barlow

Moore Barlow has appointed Tom Newman-Young the law firm’s new marketing director.

The firm’s managing partner Ed Wittington welcomed Newman-Young’s appointment, noting that he brings a “wealth and depth of experience that will help drive and steer our ambitious people-led strategy and growth plans over the next few months and years ahead”.

A 14-year veteran of the advertising industry, Newman-Young brings significant experience in building and growing major UK and global brands across the financial services, airlines, telecoms and FMCG sectors. He joins Moore Barlow from AMV BBDO, where he served as a senior board account director and worked with major global brands such as PepsiCo (Walkers Crisps, Quaker Oats, Tropicana), Mars and BT.

Prior to this, he served as business director with Leagas Delaney, working with such brands as Patek Philippe, Investec and Deutsche Bank. He also spent nine years at BBH, where his clients included Barclays, British Airways and Vodafone.

Safepoint

Matt Rumbelow has been appointed head of design and marketing at Safepoint, a lone worker solution that ensures the safety of lone workers across a wide range of industries including health and social care and agriculture.

Rumbelow has been working behind the scenes at Safepoint as co-founder and director for the past two years while running his own design and marketing company. Now taking on a full-time role, Rumbelow will be responsible for aligning Safepoint’s branding, illustrations, style and tone of voice. This will involve creating wireframes and mock-ups with the engineering team; building and updating the website; overseeing the company’s marketing presence; and creating informational brochures and flyers.

He said: “It’s great to work with a team that really value the importance of good design and marketing. We always say that safety and user experience go hand in hand; after all, there is no point creating a safety platform if no one wants to use it. We have big plans for the future, but at every step of growth, we’re going to make sure that quality and joy is built in.”

SparkPost

Natalia Dykyj has been named VP and head of marketing for email delivery and analytics platform SparkPost.

Dykyj has almost 20 years of experience helping organisation maximise their market potential. Prior to joining SparkPost, she served as the VP of product at Cision for seven years, later becoming the VP of brand management for Web.com Group.

Rich Harris, CEO of SparkPost said: “Natalia brings a wealth of knowledge in marketing and product positioning and has demonstrated true creativity and entrepreneurial thinking.

“We’re thrilled to have her join the SparkPost team and have her lead important efforts in understanding email marketer challenges. She will undoubtedly be an important voice in the innovation SparkPost delivers to its customers.”

In her new role, Dykyj will craft the company’s global marketing strategy. She will work with senior leadership on corporate vision and strategy, spearhead global strategy for corporate, customer, product and partner marketing, and help to drive profitable growth for the organization.

Dykyj added: “Joining this strong team is an honour and I’m excited to use my experience to accelerate and expand SparkPost’s impressive lead in its industry.”

St Pierre Groupe

Manchester-based international bakery business, St Pierre Groupe, has expanded its marketing team by hiring Sam Elmidoro and Georgia Dales.

With more than 15 years of experience, Elmidoro previously managed the corporate social media channels for Manchester Metropolitan University specialising in digital content strategy, management, creative output and analysis. As St Pierre Groupe’s content, social and community manager, she will be the visible leader of all the digital communications within the business for corporate, St Pierre, Baker Street and Paul Hollywood in the UK and internationally.

Dales joins St Pierre Groupe as brand activation manager and was previously at William Jackson Food Group, where she was brand manager. She will support the marketing team in providing engaging communications within brand guidelines to help drive brand awareness and sales of St Pierre Groupe’s portfolio of brands.

Louise Waggett, marketing controller at St Pierre Groupe, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Sam and Georgia to our growing team. They bring with them a wealth of experience and diverse skill sets, which will play an important part in helping us to continue on our successful journey and meet our ambitious targets for growth.”

tmwi

Marketing agency tmwi has hired Matt Baxter, Ammar Wahid and Maria Keene to help strengthen its creative, data and account management teams. With the addition of these senior team members, the agency plans to drive focus on the use of data, creative execution and a digital-first approach.

MD of tmwi, Chris Phillips, said: “Clients look to us for our expert guidance into the latest developments in technology and data. Our goal is to put data led decisioning at the heart of everything we do, making campaigns that are both brilliant and effective. We have added three strong team members with specific skills and each contribute to the delivery of our target-exceptional results for our clients.”

Baxter joins the agency as web development and creative manager where he will help drive the agency’s integrated creative digital offerings. Baxter brings knowledge and experience from both brand and agency side with previous roles at McCann Erickson and IBM. He also worked as a consultant in front-end web development for creative and digital agency clients across the B2C and B2B space, using data analysis to help improve CX and boost CRO.

Wahid joins the agency as a data analyst where he will be tasked with modelling complex data problems through the use of R;  discovering insights, identifying opportunities and optimising using statistical, algorithmic and data mining techniques. These will be  integrated with machine learning and AI to build the most effective marketing models. Wahid, who has a PhD in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, joins tmwi from Ofqaual where he worked as a data scientist. He is also a former research data management specialist from Aston University.

Keene has joined tmwi as account manager and will be responsible for streamlining account processes and ensuring seamless communications with clients and delivering agreed kpis. Keene joins the agency from her role as Senior account manager at Modern Media, a digital marketing agency for the technology sector.

360 OM

Performance marketing agency 360 OM has appointed Alex Worth as its client services director. Worth, who brings 15 years of experience in servicing clients such as TUI, Virgin and Cruisedeals, is expected to strengthen the 360 OM client services team.

Tariq Mohammed, director at 360 OM, said: “Alex shares our passion of fostering great client relationships and delivering success and we are confident that she will help us achieve our goals. We’re all really excited to welcome her to the team.”

In her new role, Worth will be responsible for leading client relationships across 360 OM’s key client portfolio of global accounts which includes tombola, ENGIE and Europcar Mobility Group.

She said: “I couldn’t be more excited to join the team at 360 OM as client services director. I hope to be able to add further value still by using the wealth of experience that I have gained during my career, both agency and client side.

“I have absolute confidence that I am making the right move to join the agency and am honoured to now be counted as one of the team.”