Confirming an earlier tip, this morning San Francisco’s Heat announced the hiring of Justin Cox as director of strategy.
Cox most recently filled the same role at DDB California, which hired him away from Pereira O’Dell; he spent less than one year in the position.
The release notes that Cox will lead Heat’s strategy team with the ultimate goal of helping clients like EA, Kendall-Jackson, Bank of the West, Levi Strauss & Co. and Teva to “determine the role of their brand in the lives and culture of their target audience.”
Cox served as senior brand strategist at Pereria before moving to the strategic director role, where he handled accounts like Skype, Intel, Amazon and Guitar Center while also working on new business. His early career included planning roles at Publicis & Hal Riney and Razorfish, where he worked on the Microsoft and Sony accounts (among others).
Heat President John Elder writes that Cox will be “a welcome addition to Heat’s deep strategic bench, even if he’s a Dodgers fan.”
The release tells us that Cox’s other roles include SXSW speaker, WSJ.com contributor and account planning instructor at Academy of Art University and Miami Ad School.