Fallon expanded its media team with the appointments of Mandana Mellano as chief media officer and Matt Benka as director of digital, Adweek reports. Both will report directly to Fallon Worldwide CEO Mike Buchner.
Mellano joins Fallon from Neo@Ogilvy, where she served as partner and director for three years. Before that she spent a year at RAPP as vice president of strategy following two years as partner/director, digital media at Group M, where she worked with clients including Activision and Cisco Systems. Prior to that she spent five years as a digital media director with Kastner & Partners, working with clients such as Porsche, Red Bull, 2K Sports, Ubisoft and Toasted Head Wine, before leaving to spend a brief period as a digital media consultant before joining Group M.
“It felt so right, and it was an incredible opportunity for me not only to be a part of this culture but for me to help them transition and really expand into a more modern approach for media,” Mellano told Adweek.
Benka joins Fallon from space150, where he has served as executive vice president, account service for the past three and a half years. He originally joined space150 back in October of 2010 as an account director, was named director of account services nine months later and vice president of account services four months after that. Before joining space150 he spent over five and a half years serving as vice president, operations with Red Circle Agency, following a little over a year and a half as a creative director with The Johnson Group.
“I’m starting to see a next-generation management team emerge before my eyes, and I’m very pleased with that,” Buchner said. “Everything I’m doing right now is with an eye toward the future.”