Revolving Door Updates: AKQA, Clinch, Invisible Universe

There's plenty to celebrate this weekend after dozens of new hires and promotions took place this week at agencies around the world. 62Above 62Above welcomed Stephanie Giner as public relations account supervisor. Giner brings experience from previous roles as communications director for United Way and assistant director of public relations for Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Acceleration Partners Acceleration Partners welcomed Florian Jetzlsperger in the newly created role of German market lead. Jetzlsperger will work to bolster the agency’s presence in Germany to meet the fast-growing demand for integrated partnership marketing programs. AKQA AKQA promoted Roman Ptakowski to managing director for North America. The promotion comes after nearly five years of Ptakowski serving as managing director at AKQA Atlanta. Basic/Dept Basic/Dept promoted Steve Denekas to chief creative officer. In this role, Denekas will drive creativity for clients and foster a creative culture across the agency. Clinch Clinch made a series of new hires to support its 2023 business growth. Jon Cooke joined as vp sales, east coast; Mark Pavia joined as vp of account management; Darly Gordon joined as director of sales, U.K.; Adriano Trevino joined as director of sales, LATAM; Bianca Kim joined as senior director of sales, West Coast; and Matt Avery joined as director of sales, Midwest. CourtAvenue CourtAvenue welcomed David Dettmer as its new chief technology officer. Dettmer will empower clients with growth opportunities, lead product development and provide expertise in technical capabilities. Digitalzone Digitalzone welcomed three new members to its leadership team. Eboni Ryan joined as head of global marketing, Paul Noonan as vice president of U.S. sales and Victoria Tinsdale as senior director of EMEA sales. Fraser Communications Fraser Communications named Dr. Paul Simon as its senior science adviser. Simon will guide outreach strategy and help the agency develop communications efforts with health-related clients. Gravity Global Gravity Global hired Stephen Cheliotis as its global brand insights director. In this role, Cheliotis will advance the agency’s growth framework for clients, titled F.A.B. (Fame, Admiration, Belief). Innocean USA Innocean USA named Tony Kalathara as its group creative director. Coming from his previous role as creative director at Meta, Kalathara brings experience working on winning campaigns like “Google Home of the Whopper” and “Burning Stores” from Burger King. Invisible Universe Invisible Universe just welcomed Dan’l Hewitt and Joey Boukadakis to its board of directors. The two will utilize their industry knowledge and experience to offer expertise across the digital entertainment landscape. Luquire Luquire hired Laura Forester as its new director of strategy. Forester is an expert on human-centered design, with experience working with clients including Apple, Siemens Energy and The Coca-Cola Company. Merge Libby Morgan was named the first chief digital business officer at Merge. Morgan will work to bring together the agency’s technology and platform experts to develop and elevate EEP solutions and drive growth across geographies. Mocean Mocean launched +Mode, a modern design and branding studio, and brought in two new executive hires to lead it. Kevin Lau joined as executive creative director, and Allyson Nevil joined as executive producer. NextUp NextUp appointed Lisa Baird as its new CEO. Baird brings experience from managing multiple global teams, signing multimillion-dollar sponsorships, and working with clients like Team USA, the NFL and the National Women’s Soccer League. Officer & Gentleman Officer & Gentleman welcomed two new members to its creative team. Gines Gomez and Borja Lopez both joined the senior creative team to work with clients including Opera GX, Netflix, Chivas Regal and HuffPost. PeterMayer PeterMayer hired Lee Taylor and James Fletcher as group creative directors. The two will use their combined brand-building passion and experience working at agencies Curiosity and Burrell Communications to lead the agency’s creative services. Proverb Agency Proverb Agency founder Daren Bascome was named to two Boston most influential lists: 150 Most Influential Bostonians by Boston Magazine and Most Influential Men of Color by Get Konnected. Revolt Revolt hired Louise Rapley as its first U.S. managing director. Rapley will head the consultancy’s U.S. operations, lead client services, drive new business and develop a range of solutions for clients. rEvolution Justine Fedak was named chief client officer at rEvolution. Fedak will lead the sports marketing agency’s global client services to drive development of how the agency delivers integrated marketing solutions to clients. sparks & honey Omnicom’s cultural strategy agency, sparks & honey, made new appointments to its executive leadership team. Mark Newhouse was promoted to president and chief operating officer; Davianne Harris was named managing partner and chief client officer; and Hannah Hickman and Robb Henzi were both elevated to partner. The Distillery Project The Distillery Project welcomed Neil Travers and Sam Ramos to its leadership team. Travers joined as partner and head of production, and Ramos joined as senior producer. Thirst Bailey James was named the first North America managing director for Thirst. As the brains behind Budweiser’s and Campbell Soup’s redesigns, James brings over 15 years of experience in global branding. Wavemaker Wakemaker named Jon Gittings as its new international head of strategy. Gittings will lead Adobe’s global strategic direction, global brand strategy for Colgate and development strategy for U.S.-based global business opportunities. If you have updates you’d like to share with Adweek, please reach out to us at agencyspy@adweek.com.

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Revolving Door Roster Updates: AKQA, Clinch, Invisible Universe & More

The top hires and promotions in the agencies world this week.

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