WPP digital creative agency POSSIBLE announced four new C-level appointments as part of its growth strategy: John Simpson joins as global chief marketing officer; Martha Hiefield arrives as global chief talent officer; Rebecca Bedrossian joins as global content director; and Gareth Jones will serve as managing director in Seattle.
Simpson arrives at POSSIBLE from Jama Software, where he spent over seven and half years as vice president of marketing, responsible for the company’s global marketing strategy. Prior to Jama Software, he served a brief stint as marketing director with POSSIBLE, then known as ZAAZ, and senior marketing director with Adobe-acquired Omniture.
Hiefield receives the promotion to global chief talent officer after nearly three years as the agency’s Seattle president. She has been with the agency, formerly known as ZAAZ, since 1998, originally joining as a senior producer and serving roles over the years including director of client services and chief of staff.
Bedrossian joins the agency following a stint as a freelance writer, editor and consultant. Prior to that she served as member of the board of directors for AIGA San Francisco, which followed nearly a year and a half as senior editorial copywriter with Shutterfly. Before that she spent nine years as managing editor of Communication Arts magazine.
Jones arrives from Digitas LBi, where he served as global chief brand & content officer/ international chief marketing officer for the past two years. He originally arrived at Digitas in January of 2011 as a brand engagement director before being named global brand and marketing director the following year. Before joining Digitas LBi, he spent time as editor, marketing for Haymarket Media.
The new appointments are the latest examples of POSSIBLE’s aggressive growth strategy, following the arrivals in recent months of chief creative officer Daniel Chu from Deutsch, global CTO John Cunningham from Razorfish and Paul Soon as CEO of APAC from XM Asia Pacific.
“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,” said POSSIBLE global CEO Shane Atchison. “Digital sits at the disruptive center of many industries. 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.”
“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,” added global chief talent officer Martha Hiefield. “This commitment within our culture helps POSSIBLE bring a greater range of ideas to the table and drive creative work forward for our clients and their consumers.”