Amster Yard appointed Jennifer Peterson as director of strategic planning.
Peterson, a former strategic planner at Publicis Paris, where she worked on Club Med, United Biscuit and Coca-Cola accounts, joins Jeff Weiss, creative director, and Tim Arnold, president, to complete the top management layer at the McCann-Erickson unit. Peterson replaces Lee Daley, who returned to his native London a year ago as European director of brand management for McCann-Erickson Worldwide. The search took so long because Weiss said he wanted someone with both international experience and a background at a brand consultancy boutique such as Tattoo in San Francisco, where Peterson started her career.
Peterson was also at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Ore., where she worked on Microsoft, Nike and on special projects for Coke, including its "Passion is a color" campaign. She then moved to Publicis.
Peterson will be charged with building a planning department, which at this point has no other employees. "I need to spend some time gauging the amount of work we have and then bring some people in," said Peterson. "We've got room to grow, and that is the intention." She also will be involved in seeking new business: "I'd like to see us do more retail stuff."
The creative boutique counts Bacardi, Martini & Rossi, Sol Beer, Stella Artois, Bombay Sapphire and Lugz among its clients. It claims $200 million in billings and about 35 employees.
The new job "matches really well with my interest in international work and being creative," Peterson said. "Creative does not mean only small accounts, [it translates] globally."