We’re closing out this Friday with a full debrief on this week’s top hires, promotions and transitions at agencies everywhere.
AbelsonTaylor
Eric Densmore was named senior vice president, business development at AbelsonTaylor. Densmore will focus primarily on spearheading the agency’s new account growth, in addition to existing responsibilities.
Above+Beyond
Above+Beyond brought on Dena Walker as its new chief strategy officer. It also promoted Laura Graham to chief production officer and Johnny Ray to managing director.
ArtClass
ArtClass welcomed Oren Kaplan to its roster as a commercial director. Kaplan has worked with clients like Amazon, Jeep, Ford and Microsoft.
Battery
Battery opened a new office in Shanghai. Paul Lin, industry veteran and managing director, will utilize 20 years of experience in digital marketing for clients including WPP, Publicis and Omnicom to lead the office.
Brains on Fire Inc.
Brains on Fire hired Neph Trejo as chief creative officer. Trejo will lead brand creative and design for the agency’s clients, while also utilizing creative expertise to influence all aspects of the company.
Brandon
Brandon welcomed two new team members to its media department. Hunter McDonald joined as associate media planning director and Casey Hauck joined as media buyer.
Camp Lucky
Camp Lucky collaborated with flame artist Artie Peña. Peña has previously worked with clients like Samsung, Universal Studios, Chik-fil-A and Tito’s Vodka.
Carat U.S.
Carat U.S. brought on Cristina Charles as evp, head of growth. Charles will lead the establishment, development and expansion of relationships with new and existing clients for the agency.
Clyde
Clyde promoted Lilia Dashevsky to senior vice president of public affairs. Dashevsky has been helping establish, grow and oversee the pro-democracy and elections sub-practice area since 2020, and will now push this further with clients making the biggest impact on democracy.
Critical Mass
Critical Mass brought on Ara Kurnit as chief innovation officer. In this newly created role, Kurnit will work to accelerate innovation globally for clients like Nike, Mars Wrigley and Diageo.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Ellie Terveen was named director of retail sales at Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Previously the senior director of retail operations at adidas global, Terveen will lead all retail relationships globally for the company.
French Butter
French Butter made two new additions to its roster. Those additions include directors and DPs Etienne Proulx and Anneke Schoneveld.
Goodway Group
Goodway Group welcomed Marc Ducnuigeen as chief client officer. Ducnuigeen will utilize over 25 years of experience to expand the agency client base, improve operational efficiency and spearhead innovative solutions.
Hanson Dodge
Hanson Dodge completed a two-week summer internship program in partnership with the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. The internship was created for BIPOC high school students, aiming to increase awareness and excitement about a potential career in advertising,
Hill+Knowlton
Hill+Knowlton named Craug Buchholz as U.S. CEO. Buchholz brings over 30 years of experience in leadership at companies like GM and Procter & Gamble.
Hill Holiday
Karen Kaplan is stepping down from Hill Holliday after 10 years as CEO and 41 years with the agency. Chris Wallrapp will assume the role after Kaplan’s departure.
Identity
Identity welcomed two new directors to their roster. Laura Martinova joins with experience from previous clients like Aiddas and Stella McCartney and Ronald Koetzier with Nestle and Pepsi Co.
Imre
Imre welcomed Jennifer Richman as evp of client operations. Richman brings over 24 years of experience, and will now help imre scale its operations department as the agency continues forward momentum.
Journee Technologies
Journee Technologies appointed Erika Lang as head of the Americas. Lang will lead a new team to continue global expansion with the opening of a new office in the U.S.
Mower
Mower announced a series of promotions within its staff. Ashley Montanaro was named senior vice president, client leadership, Trish Bugent was named senior vice president, public relations, John O’Hara was named vice president, public relations and Peter Wiezalis was named vice president, growth strategy. There were also 16 additional promotions throughout the staff.
Ogilvy
Ogilvy named Jaun Woodbury its North America creative and entertainment lead. Woodbury is an Grammy Award-winning creative with more than twenty years of industry experience.
Public Inc.
Public Inc welcomed Jill Applebaum as chief creative officer. Applebaum will drive creativity for clients like J&J, Mejuri and Crocs.
PureRED
PureRED named Heather Collins chief client officer. Collins will oversee a unified client leadership team across the enterprise.
Premier Music Group
Premier Music Group made three promotions to strengthen its leadership. Winslow Bright and Aaron Mercer were both appointed as co-presidents, and Meghan Currier was named executive producer.
R/GA
R/GA appointed Ashley Andrews as group creative director. Andrews will shape and elevate creative vision for R/GA’s collations with Nike on the Global Jordan brand.
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi welcomed Cliff Atkinson as its first director of culture and DE&I. Atkinson was formerly with the agency for over 12 years and has returned to nurture existing DE&I initiatives and develop new programs for POC within the agency.
Sago
Sago appointed multiple new leaders to enhance innovation and human experience in research. Katherine Reagan was named chief revenue officer and Raj Manocha was named chief client officer.
Saylor
Saylor hired Rebecca Smythe as account supervisor. Smythe will utilize client-side experience for digital marketing campaigns for clients including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix.
Scibids
Scibids named Rafael Alfaro as head of brand partnerships. Alfaro will work to bolster the agency’s position at the frontier of AI-led marketing,
SheChange
SheChange brought on former U.S. women’s soccer head coach Jill Ellis and Wasserman evp Circe Wallace as executive producers. The film features four of the best female big-wave surfers in the world fighting for equal access and equal pay in their sport.
Shiny
Shiny welcomed Tanashya Batra as strategy associate. In this role, Batra will tap into expertise across market research, brand development and strategy to service clients.
The Bloc
The Bloc hired Kellan Tortora as vice president, creative director. Tortora brings expertise as an award-winning writer and creative, with previous campaigns for more than 20 Fortune 500 companies.
The Local Collective
The Local Collective brought on Caitlin Keeley and Josh Day as executive creative directors for advertising. The duo has extensive experience working on creative for Lexus, Subway and EQ.
VMLY&R
VMLY&R promoted three team members across departments. Liz Cole was named chief social officer, Jennifer Kohl was named chief media officer and Heather Physioc was named chief discoverability officer.
We Are Social / The Narrative Group
We Are Social / The Narrative Group welcomed Shon Mogharabi as vp of creative strategy and culture. The former creative strategy director of TikTok will now lead the agency’s culture communications practice.
Wunderman Thompson
Wunderman Thompson Germany named Simona Suman as chief creative officer in Munich. Suman will lead creative product and work to advance DE&I at the agency,