While we’re in the summer slowdown on the agency front during a holiday-shortened week, new hires and promotions are still happening at agencies everywhere.
AbelsonTaylor
Health and wellness advertising agency AbelsonTaylor has promoted 26-year healthcare marketing industry veteran Eric Densmore to senior vice president, business development.
In addition to current client management responsibilities, he has recently been acting in a new-business role and will now focus primarily on spearheading AbelsonTaylor’s new account growth, reporting to president Jeff Berg. Densmore assumes the role from Jay Carter, who began serving in an emeritus role at AbelsonTaylor in February and recently left the agency.
AKQA
AKQA’s San Francisco studio has promoted Kristin Goto and Jon Freshwater to key leadership positions. Goto, a 12-year AKQA veteran, has been appointed as managing director, up from director of client services. Freshwater, who has been with AKQA for 17 years, has been promoted to director of client services from his previous role as client partner.
ArtClass
ArtClass has signed director Jesse Ray Diamond. Originally from the Bay Area and now based in Los Angeles, Diamond’s unfiltered approach to storytelling has quickly made him a stand-out talent among the new generation of filmmakers.
BMB
Ad industry leader Jason Cobbold will succeed Rory Tapner as chair of GB Snowsport when Tapner formally steps down from his post. Cobbold, who leads creative agency BMB as chief executive, will serve an initial four-year term on the GB Snowsport board.
Designit
Designit, a Wipro owned global experience innovation agency, has bolstered its senior leadership team by appointing Christine Pizzo as its head of design and creative in the Americas. Pizzo’s remit is to strengthen the full-service, end-to-end offerings under design and creative, solving holistic brand and experience challenges from clients. Pizzo comes to Designit from Accenture Song.
Digitas
Digitas has appointed Melissa Levy as chief customer officer. In this new role, Melissa will focus on organic growth with existing clients, leveraging her years of account management experience at Digitas to build new solutions and uncover new opportunities at the agency.
Fable.works
W+K’s Courtney LeBlanc has joined creative agency fable.works as managing director and partner. Fresh from leading Wieden+Kennedy’s Budweiser global business in the agency’s Titanium-winning #BringHomeTheBud World Cup campaign at Cannes, LeBlanc will join fable.works co-founders Marcel Yunes and Rick Williams at the helm.
Flywheel Digital
Flywheel Digital, a digital commerce company for enterprise brands, has appointed Allysun Lundy as senior vice president of media. Lundy comes to Flywheel from Publicis Groupe. Lundy will be responsible for the advancement of Flywheel’s expanding digital capabilities, internal team development and client growth.
Hero Digital
Independent digital customer experience company Hero Digital has expanded its executive team with the addition of industry veteran Katie Comerford as executive vice president of marketing and media services. Comerford will oversee the evolution of solutions and services as well as help brands navigate the changes in consumer habits and technologies to drive business growth.
Identity
Production company Identity has appointed Molly Mitchell as its newest executive producer. With an extensive sales background and a proven track record of cultivating talent, Mitchell previously managed talent for Big Sky Edit, Assembly Films and MacGuffin Films.
Institute
Commercial production company Institute added Ray Neutron to its directorial roster. Based in Atlanta, Ray is an inquisitive storyteller working across both photography and video.
JConnelly
Communications and marketing agency JConnelly has hired Ryan Hughes as assistant vice president public relations, where he will be responsible for independently leading their team in retainer and project-based client revenue, working out of JConnelly’s Chicago office.
M Booth
M Booth has hired Jeremy Mullman as senior vice president, media relations. Mullman will be charged with driving M Booth’s vision for earned media, providing senior strategic counsel to clients across the agency’s consumer and corporate business, while growing and galvanizing the agency’s integrated, multi-channel media relations practice. Mullman spent the previous 13 years at ICF Next and its predecessor brands Olson Engage and Dig Communications.
Spark Foundry
Valerie Bernstein has recently joined the global media agency Spark Foundry as chief growth officer. Bernstein is based in Spark Foundry’s New York office and reports to CEO Sarah Kramer. Bernstein was most recently at Advantage Unified Commerce where she was the evp, business development and marketing.
Taylor
Purpose-led marketing communications agency Taylor has made several promotions and new hires. Astrid Arias has been promoted to svp, head of finance; Maeve Hagen has been promoted to managing partner; Christina Merritt was promoted to chief strategy officer. In addition, Suyin Sleeman joined Taylor as evp, executive creative director, while Garlanda Freeze joined as evp, account.
TobinLeff
TobinLeff, a mergers and acquisition advisory and exit planning consulting firm, has named Janet Tyler a partner at the firm. Tyler brings nearly three decades of experience in building award-winning businesses as a co-founder of Airfoil Group, and COO for Red Level.
Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins has been on a strategy and creative hiring drive. Among the 11 new creatives, four new strategists and three additions to the engagement team, the global brand consultancy has hired Instagram global brand strategy lead Kwesi Blair as senior strategy director in New York. James McNaught was hired as associate creative director in London. Promotions include Jess Yan in New York and Matthew Haysom in London as creative directors. The strategy team has hired three more strategists, as well as promoting six, including Michele Kim to senior strategy director in New York and Kate Pfeil to strategy director in London. The engagement team finds Raphael Picciarelli promoted to associate engagement director in the U.S., plus Ian Caroll in the U.S. and Elin Morris in London to engagement directors.
WTP Pictures
Los Angeles and Detroit based production company WTP Pictures has hired Kim Slowik as its director of partnerships/executive producer. Slowik will play a role in amplifying and supporting WTP Pictures’ roster of creatives and aiding the company’s propulsion into original content and documentary work.
If you have updates you’d like to share with Adweek, please reach out to us at agencyspy@adweek.com.