According to Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) ‘State of Data 2024: How the Digital Ad Industry is Adapting to the Privacy-by-Design Ecosystem‘, 82% of those surveyed revealed the makeup of their organisations has been impacted by signal loss.

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The findings also revealed ad spending that features first-party data and engages audiences at scale is being prioritised, with 89% of ad buyers reporting a shift in message personalisation strategies, ad investment costs (87%), and over three-in-four cite selection changes in media channels (81%) and KPIs (79%), along with more seller-direct deals.

The data added ad buyers are shifting budgets to connected TV, retail media, search, and social networks which rely less on cookies.

Instead, it provides access to first-party data and precise targeting containing embedded measurements.

This comes as 55% of those surveyed stated it to be harder to track conversions overall, post-view conversions (52%), attribute campaign/channel performance (55%), measure ROI (55%), make optimisations (50%), and measure frequency (50%) and reach (47%).

Additionally, the study found that 71% of marketers are currently or planning to grow their first-party datasets, nearly double the rate of just two years ago (41%).

IAB CEO, David Cohen, said: “The meaningful investments being made are proof positive of the industry’s commitment to a privacy-first orientation.

“Executives are taking notice and funding the right initiatives for the next stage of industry growth.”

IAB, VP Measurement, Addressability & Data Center, Angelina Eng, added: “To tackle data quality challenges, it’s crucial for brands, agencies, and publishers to continue to adopt innovative analytical methods including Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and media mix modelling that are less dependent on tracking signals and third-party cookies.

“The industry’s embrace of privacy-by-design is the right thing for the industry and consumers alike. But if small independent publishers aren’t protected, the vibrant, independent open web that consumers love is at serious risk.”

The post Data: Advertising budgets impacted by privacy legislation & signal loss appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

DAZN names Mayer chair of board
Kevin Mayer has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors at sports streaming platform DAZN Group. He will provide strategic direction to DAZN’s leadership team as the company continues along its aggressive growth trajectory. Previous Chairman, John Skipper, will remain on the Board and serve as a Strategic Adviser.

Mayer was previously Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and International at The Walt Disney Company. There, he launched and ran the company’s streaming businesses including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Hotstar, as well as overseeing Disney’s global advertising sales, content sales, channels sales, and international operations. Prior to that role, Mayer served as Disney’s Chief Strategy Officer, leading the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 21^st Century Fox, and BamTech.

“As Chairman, I’m looking forward to partnering with the management team and my fellow directors to help DAZN build on its impressive track record of success in developing a truly global sports platform,” said Mayer. “Since I began working with Access Industries last year, I’ve been impressed with DAZN’s ambitions and ability to quickly grow from a new entrant to an important player in key markets throughout the world. I look forward to guiding DAZN’s strategic development into its next chapter.”

Business Director duo join DDB
DDB Worldwide, an Omnicom-owned advertising network, has hired Varsha Kaura as Global Business Director for DDB North America and Vanessa Reyes as Group Business Director for DDB New York.

Kaura will have overall responsibility of leading the cross-market teams servicing Mars Incorporated. Operating within DDB Chicago and reporting to Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO of DDB North America, she will be responsible for strengthening Mars Incorporated global relationships across multiple geographies and individual agency offices, including adam&eveDDB, DDB Chicago, DDB Guangzhou, DDB Mudra, DDB Mexico, and DDB New York.

Kaura was previously a member of the core leadership at Motista, where she led strategy and client relations across a variety of industries.

“Varsha brings a unique mix of extensive creative agency experience combined with C-Suite management consultancy leadership in data and analytics driven strategy. We are excited for the new value creation we will bring to Mars Incorporated through data-driven creativity to further catapult their brand,” said Thomas-Copeland. “Varsha will bring her unique set of skills adding a new dimension of creative problem-solving to our clients, using data and insight to fuel our creativity for Mars Incorporated.”

Reyes will lead a broad group of client businesses, bringing a new perspective to strengthen the agency’s client relationships. She has over 15 years of experience in integrated marketing and has partnered with brands such as MetLife, Instagram, Lego, ESPN, and Verizon. Previous to this role, Reyes held the position of Group Managing Director at R/GA.

“The addition of the Vanessa to the DDB New York leadership team is the perfect manifestation of creativity and connection – both needed to drive business growth today,” said Thomas-Copeland. “Vanessa is a truly integrated thinker and business leader. She brings progressive digital-first experience, and we will marry this to the progressive business questions and expectations our clients are engaging us in. Vanessa represents the new direction and skill base of DDB NAM.”

News UK hires Cosa as Data GM
Pedro Cosa has been named as Data General Manager at News UK, the publisher behind The Sun and The Times. Reporting to Chief Operating Officer David Dinsmore, he will be responsible for driving a joined-up data vision and strategy across the whole business. He will lead the company’s Data Hub, optimising the value of data and insight, and working with senior leaders from all divisions and brands to ensure that strategic decision-making is fuelled by data.

Most recently, at Warner Media, Cosa led the transformation of a cross-platform data and intelligence function to support the company’s expansion across its portfolio of network and streaming brands in EMEA including Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Boing, Cartoonito, HBO, and TCM.

“I’m hugely excited to be joining such a talented team at News,” said Cosa. “They have a roster of brands which sit at the heart of the national conversation, engaging millions every day. Gaining an ever-better understanding of who those millions are, how they connect with the brands and how they connect with the world will open up more opportunities for News UK, and for its commercial partners.”

Pair of senior execs join MediaCom’s US team
WPP media agency network MediaCom has recruited Liza Davidian as Executive Vice President of Investment & Activation and Yorlene Goff as Executive Director of People. Both will join the executive committee and report to Sasha Savic, US CEO of MediaCom.

Davidian will lead the agencys future-forward investment vision, including client investment strategies that are holistic in approach and united end-end with planning and analytics and adaptable to the evolving consumer landscape. Across her over 20 years in the media industry, she has worked with clients including General Mills, Clorox, SCJ, CBS, CW, Showtime, Wells Fargo, Experian, Levi Strauss & Co., Ancestry.com, and McDonalds.

Goff will lead the agency’s ‘people first’ culture, nurturing a workforce and environment where everyone feels empowered to fulfill their potential and making continued progress in creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. She joins MediaCom from Publicis Spine, where she served as Chief Talent Officer responsible for driving strategic global talent structure optimisation within the platform, technology, and data & analytics teams across brand agencies and local markets.

“Transformation and the opportunities for growth never stop – for our clients and ourselves,” said Savic. “Liza and Yorlene bring with them excellence in their craft and are both critical in our mission of working with the most ambitious clients, having the most advanced products, and cultivating the most talented workforce. Their respective contributions are vital in our Seeing the Bigger Picture vision and for MediaCom to have continued successes and growth in 2021 and beyond.”

VidMob turns to De Castro on growth
Matty de Castro has joined VidMob, a creative analytics platform, as Vice President of Growth and Operations. He will expand VidMob’s business intelligence practice and build a global sales organisation to support small and medium-sized businesses.

Prior to VidMob, De Castro spent 12 years at Facebook, most recently as Head of North American Scaled Accounts. During his tenure, he led their earliest and current monetisation programs, laying the groundwork for business growth, and helping to evolve Facebook into a dominant marketing services platform. Earlier in his career, De Castro held leadership positions at Arkadium, Pulse 360, Ticketmaster, and Citysearch, working with clients including Walmart, General Mills, Nestle, Leo Burnett, Sony, National Geographic, and 20^th Century Fox.

“For years, I’ve watched firsthand as marketers of all sizes have struggled to evolve their creative operations to keep pace with the needs of today’s opportunities,” said De Castro. “I’ve also witnessed just how impactful VidMob’s platform can be in improving advertiser efficiency and results. As creative intelligence gives rise to a new category of first-party data, VidMob’s ability to bring data and creativity together in one place is one of the most exciting developments I’ve seen in a long time, and I’m so excited to join the team and get to work.”

Garrubbo elevated to chair of board at IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has elected Gina Garrubbo as Chair of its Board of Directors.

Garrubbo, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Public Media, has served as the IAB Board’s Vice Chair since August 2020 and Co-Chair of the IAB Audio Committee since 2017. Krishan Bhatia, President & Chief Business Officer of Global Advertising Partnerships at NBCUniversal, has been elected to serve as Vice Chair.

“Having worked across different disciplines within media and marketing, I have been able to experience first-hand the vital role that IAB plays in driving the industry forward,” said Garrubbo. “There has never been a more important time to be part of IAB as the industry is going through a tremendous reset and reinvention. I look forward to working alongside IAB CEO David Cohen, the Board of Directors, and IAB members to help guide this industry forward and to continue to ensure that we create vibrant marketplaces that foster innovation and collaboration.”

LiveXLive recruits Vick to lead programming
Andy Vick has been named Head of Programming at livestream and on-demand audio platform LiveXLive, as well as Executive Vice President of the company’s newly formed content division, StudioOne. He will create and expand digitally native content to drive subscribers, sponsors, and new revenue streams across the LiveXLive flywheel.

Vick was most recently President of Virtual Reality and Immersive Entertainment at STX Entertainment. In 2015, he co-founded and was Chief Content Officer for Surreal, where over 100 VR experiences were produced under his leadership. Surreal was acquired by STX in 2016.

“LiveXLive has purposely engineered themselves for a future where talent and partners can walk right through the front door and plug directly into their comprehensive and fully integrated flywheel. From interactive live streaming to on-demand video, podcasts, digital radio, OTT apps, in-person events, and custom physical goods…they are a one-stop-shop,” Vick commented. “Everyone knows this is where the music and entertainment business is headed, and lucky for me, LiveXLive is already there.  Im humbled at the opportunity and looking forward to working with the LiveXLive team to keep pushing boundaries.”

Gorman takes seat on Samba board
Samba TV, a television data and omniscreen measurement platform, has added Jeremi Gorman to its Board of Directors.

Gorman has served as Chief Business Officer at Snap Inc. since 2018, where she is responsible for revenue and customer operations across the company. Before joining Snap, she spent several years at Amazon, most recently as Global Head of Field Sales for Amazon Advertising. Gorman also held senior advertising and sales positions at Yahoo! And Variety Magazine.

“Ever since discovering Samba TV during my time at Amazon, I have been impressed by the critical role the company plays in reinventing the television model for today’s viewer that consumes video across all screens,” said Gorman. “I am eager to work with the team and contribute my perspective to further advance its market position.”

TabMo welcomes Phillips as Non-exec Director
Ben Phillips has been appointed as mobile advertising firm TabMo’s first Non-executive Director.

Phillips has spent 17 years working in the mobile advertising space. His career-path includes five years at MediaCom as Global Head of Mobile. This was followed by the role of Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Blis, where he worked with agencies and brands direct to overcome challenges and drive return on their advertising investment. 

“With direct experience of using TabMo’s platform while at MediaCom, I have seen first-hand the reliability of its platform and the results it delivers; this is combined with a culture that actively encourages inspiration and innovation,” said Phillips. “I jumped at the opportunity to work with such a robust business during its dramatic growth and development.”

Brown takes up advisory role at TVSquared
TVSquared, a cross-platform TV ad measurement company, has announced Andy Brown as Executive Adviser. He will provide strategic counsel to TVSquared’s Board and executive team.

Brown was most recently Global Chief Executive Officer for Kantar Media. Between 2013 and 2020, he helped Kantar significantly develop its media business and played a key role in the acquisition of TNS PLC and, subsequently, the sale of its majority stake to Bain Capital. He also led the expansion of services into more than 50 markets worldwide.

“As TV viewership continues to fragment, it has never been more critical for advertisers to measure the impact of TV and reach the right audiences at scale,” said Brown. “TVSquared is the real deal – its proven, always-on platform is used by thousands of buy- and sell-side clients to measure TV how people consume it, across platforms and screens. To be armed with precise insights into optimal reach and frequency, the publishers and inventory driving performance and the audiences watching and engaging with ads is game changing for any brand.”

Malwarebytes announces Strassman as CPO
Mark Strassman has been appointed Chief Product Officer at cybersecurity platform Malwarebytes. He will lead the product teams to put a renewed emphasis on the customer, evaluate new market opportunities, and deliver solutions to unmet and unarticulated needs. His focus will centre on creating superior customer experiences across both the consumer and corporate product lines to continue to accelerate customer acquisition and retention growth.

Strassman joins Malwarebytes from LogMeIn, where he was General Manger of their Unified Communication and Collaboration product portfolio. While there, he drove growth in the core UCC business, moving from dozens of products to a single, integrated UCC platform, driving up usage, customer satisfaction, and retention rates. He also led product, design, and integrated portfolio strategy at BlueJeans, and has held leadership roles at Blackboard, Autodesk, Adobe Systems, and Macromedia.

“Malwarebytes presents a unique opportunity to help align the needs of multiple customers and be a contributor to an incredible stage of the companys growth,” said Strassman. “Im excited to join such a seasoned and accomplished executive team and help deliver a differentiated value proposition which puts our customers at the center of everything we do.”

Three elevated at MiQ
MiQ, a programmatic media partner, has announced three promotions across its senior executive management team to bolster its European expansion. Giles Ivey has been promoted to EMEA CEO, Van Sideras has been named EMEA COO, and Freddie Turner moves to the role of UK MD.

Ivey, who was previously UK CEO, joined MiQ almost three years ago having previously been a Non-executive Board Member and then Global CRO at Avid Media. Prior to this, he was UK Managing Director at Collective.

“Weve globalised in all the English-as-a-first language markets, and over the last 15 months weve entered into China and India – the second biggest and one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, respectively,” said Ivey. “Our expansion into EMEA represents the next piece in MiQ’s global story. We’ve already got a business unit in Germany and now we want to turbocharge this growth, bringing our clients and agency partners with us on this journey to new markets.”

Over the last nine years, Sideras has risen through the ranks of the trading team to be MD of the UK business. His new challenge as EMEA COO will be to bring the UK and DE teams closer together, as well as serviing and growing the EMEA business effectively from new markets over the coming years.

“With the need to reach audiences online, lockdown has accelerated the pace of programmatic adoption,” said Sideras. “In a world of uncertainty, brands and agencies are even more conscious of investments, and what they want right now is clearly measurable and trackable ROI. By harnessing data in programmatic advertising, marketers can not only optimise campaigns to deliver the best results, but use this insight to tackle wider business challenges.”

Turner will lead MiQ’s UK business into a period of continued growth and opportunity. She joined MiQ from Agenda 21 over two years ago and has been pivotal in the evolution of MiQ’s product story, worked closely as a lead with MiQ’s data scientists, engineers, and analysits in Bengalura, and advanced its omnichannel and cookieless offering. With her move to UK MD, Turner will also take a leading role in MiQ’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and corporate social responsibility in the UK.

“As we all move towards a post-cookie world, advertisers need to look at new ways to plan and deliver campaigns without relying on cookie-level data,” commented Turner. “In my new role, I’m excited to spearhead this major shift, defining and launching a full suite of omnichannel programmatic and futureproofed solutions to deliver tangible results for key holding companies, independent agencies and brands alike. MiQ’s expertise is using data to drive insight and as we expand into new markets, our clients will gain access to even more insight that can drive more measurable business outcomes for their whole corporation – it’s an extremely interesting time for the industry.”

Impact makes host of hires and promotions
Partnership automation company Impact has made a number of new hires amid the continued expansion of its EMEA team.

Alex Springer has been promoted to Regional VP, EMEA Sales & Solutions Architects; James Bennie to Senior Director, Customer Success; Sam Crocker to Director, Mid-Market & SMB Sales; and Matthew Sheppard and Smita Pillai to Customer Success Director roles; while Bharat Siyani has been promoted to Director, Global HR; Alex Gordon to Associate, Channel Partnerships Development; and Ana Santos, Associate, Solutions Architect.

Clara Mantegazza and Dayo Ojo are hired in Business Development roles, whilst Patrick Chancelier joins as Account Executive, Strategic Enterprise.

“Our diverse and world-class team will be working with customers and partners across a range of markets at a time when brands are beginning to grasp the power of partnerships,” said Florian Gramshammer, MD EMEA at Impact. “By scaling and growing our team in this way we can better meet market demand for our Partnership Cloud technology and continue to innovate and optimise our offering.”

Nixon and Levy join Adnami
Ad platform Adnami has hired Kathryn Nixon as Publisher Partnerships Manager and Sam Levy as Commercial Activation Manager.

Nixon is tasked with looking after publisher relationships in the UK, growing the business by dipping into her extensive network. She will lead service activation, delivery and training with top tier publishers in the UK. Her most recent role was at PapayaMobile, where she worked across a number of projects including the launch of a new eCommerce platform as Business Consultant. Prior to this, Nixon held the position of Head of B2B at Encore Digital Media and managed multi-million-pound accounts at Reach PLC, having started her career in Account Management at City AM.

“I can’t wait to support publishers, agencies and brands in creating and delivering a better, more efficient advertising ecosystem,” said Nixon.

Levy will work with Adnami’s partners during the onboarding process; ensure campaigns exceed expectations; and focus on nurturing new accounts and growing existing relationships. She was most recently at Flashtalking, and has worked with a range of clients including P&G, Paddy Power, Visa, and Kia.

“Adnami is pioneering uniquely high impact campaigns, and I can’t wait to help more clients enjoy astonishing ad experiences and accelerated return on investment,” commented Levy.

Kyra looks to head up US sales
Kelsey Arnold has been appointed Head of US Sales at Gen Z-focused media company Kyra Media. She is responsible for creating activations, campaigns and initiatives for brands looking for creative ways to engage with Gen Z.

Most recently, Arnold served as director of brand partnerships at Apartment Therapy Media, working with leading food brands, CPG products, and major national retailers across platforms, including the Kitchn. Arnold previously led brand partnerships for various emerging players in the media landscape in both the B2B and B2C space, including Social Media Today. Her early career began at IBM on the sales and marketing team, supporting client relationship initiatives like the Women in Leadership program and CIO summits.

Four join Dept
Dept, a digital agency, has welcomed four female digital experts across marketing, project management, design, and user experience.

Lavinia Alexoiu has been named as a Senior UX Designer, joining after three years at Mancester’s Accenture Interactive, where she worked as Senior Product Designer and a UX Designer.

Ali Marler arrives as a Designer, arriving from The Drawing Room in Manchester with four years of experience working in creative agencies.

Senior Marketing Manager Alexandra Moorhouse worked for Manchester Central, I-COM and, most recently, MIDAS (Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency). She has eight years of experience in marketing and communications and will be responsible for delivering Dept’s sector-focused strategies and campaigns with core competencies in content creation and event management.

Dept has also welcomed Jo Warrilow into the role of Service Delivery Executive within its DOS (Digital Operations Services) team where she coordinates projects, manages resources and ensures the smooth running of day-to-day operations. Warrilows seven-year professional track record involves business support and project coordination for Mercer, WYG Group, and Breast Cancer Care.

“We’re delighted to welcome this talented group of women to Dept, especially on International Women’s Day. Women are having a massive, positive impact on the future of our industry and we’re seeing that right now, here at Dept,” said Melissa Hermitt, Operations Director at Dept UK.

Lycamobile names Turner as EVP
Phil Turner has joined mobile virtual network operator Lycamobile as Executive Vice President of Professional Channel Sales. He will play a crucial role in supporting Lycamobile’s expansion plans, taking on responsibility for the overall productivity and effectiveness of Lycamobile’s channel sales. He will work closely with key internal and external stakeholders to enhance existing revenue streams and develop new ones in national markets.

Turner joins Lycamobile with over 30 years’ experience and has implemented vital strategies at companies including Payzone, the Post Office, and Travelex. As Head of Retail Proposition at Payzone (part of Post Office), he was responsible for the delivery of a new commission and pricing structure, delivery of a business banking partnership with Cashplus, setting up a Retailer Forum, as well as introducing a new customer experience process to more than 12,500 retail locations and reducing transaction times by 30 per cent.

“We’re pleased to announce Phil’s appointment as our Executive Vice President of Professional Channel Sales,” said Navanit Narayan, Lycamobile’s Group Chief Operating Officer. “He brings with him not only experience, but an unparalleled knowledge, flair, and expertise for supporting and handling stakeholder relations.”

Humphries-French takes charge of marketing at Never.no
Never.no, an audience engagement platform, has named Alex Humphries-French as its Head of Marketing & Communications. He will support Never.no’s strategy in growing brand reach and strengthen industry partnerships with collaborative events throughout the year.

Humphries-French joins from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, where he was a Senior Account Manager. He has previously worked for Rotolight as their PR & Marketing Lead, managed campaigns for Avid, and built personal brand for actors in film & TV.

“I’m excited to join Never.no during a time of innovation across the industry. We’re seeing huge changes in the way the audience is consuming content, as broadcast, digital, social and brand content providers look to create new ways to connect with a growing audience,” said Humphries-French. “I’m delighted to be leading the marketing and comms for a company that has a huge opportunity for growth, particularly with our audience engagement platform, Bee-On and the team’s first-rate industry expertise – I can’t wait to get stuck in and collaborate with established partners and clients, such as Vizrt, ITV, and Sky.”

Heap makes executive reshuffle
Effective 2 April, Ken Fine assumes the position of Chief Executive Officer at digital product analytics company Heap, as CEO and Co-founder Matin Movassate transitions into a full-time role as Chairman of the Board. Heap has expanded its product and engineering leadership bench as well, adding Rachel Obstler as VP of Product and David Fullerton as VP of Engineering.

“Heap is coming off a record year of growth executing against its product vision and has never been in a better position to accelerate into our next stage. A recognized leader who’s made a career out of driving company growth and pushing the envelope toward what’s next, Ken is the ideal person to take this company forward into its next decade. I couldn’t have found a more trusted advisor to lead Heap,” said Movassate.

“In a world where digital experiences are your product, digital product analytics are a critical tool for gathering data, surfacing powerful insights, and taking meaningful action on them,” added Fine. “I’m thrilled to continue to build on the amazing work Matin has already put in to advance this mission of putting product data in the hands of teams everywhere, and am elated that we’ll have Rachel and David helping grow our game-changing product.”

The post Movers and Shakers: DAZN, DDB, News UK, MediaCom, VidMob, and more appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

FreeWheel selects Ma as CTO
Yuling Ma has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer at Comcast’s ad company FreeWheel. She will lead the development and operation of FreeWheel’s technology platform and network operations and the company’s global engineering team spanning the US, Europe, and China.

Ma previously served as Senior Vice President of Engineering and General Manager overseeing FreeWheel’s Beijing office. In this role, she oversaw an engineering team that achieved significant product development and innovation milestones, including the creation of a new marketplace technology and programmatic trading capabilities. Ma joined FreeWheel from JD.com, where she served as division head overseeing data products, platforms, and business development. She has also previously worked at a Chinese startup that provided big data solution to the government, Pegasus, MicroStrategy, and Verizon.

“I’m honoured to be part of the FreeWheel family and excited for what lies ahead,” Ma said. “Moving forward, I’ll be partnering with our teams globally to fuel the expansion of our technology solutions across the ecosystem so that FreeWheel can be the connective tissue between buyers and sellers, transforming how the industry works and where it’s headed.”

Spruyt takes charge of AI at Reprise
Reprise, IPG’s performance marketing agency, has announced the appointment of Vincent Spruyt as its Global Chief AI Officer. Reporting to Global CEO Dimitri Maex, he will lead the newly formed artificial intelligence (AI) group as well as the agency’s established team of analytics experts.

Spruyt, a previous recipient of the MIT Technology Review ‘35 Innovators Under 35’ award, served as Chief Innovation Officer at Sentiance prior to joining Reprise. He is also frequently a guest professor at the IDLab AI research centre, which was co-founded by international research and development organisation, IMEC, and the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

“What attracted me to Reprise is its genuine focus on making a positive impact, which is evidenced by the groundbreaking Media Responsibility Index work it leads for Mediabrands,” Spruyt commented. “I am passionate about human-centric AI, which is underpinned by the same ideology – build intelligent systems that continuously learn from human input and guard fundamental rights like equality, fairness and privacy. In my new role I am excited for the opportunity to drive innovation and differentiation, as well as optimize, automate and improve existing processes on a global scale.”

IPG Mediabrands makes pair of global appointments
Rahel Rasu and Fiona Johnston have been named as Global Chief Communications Officer and Global Chief Growth Officer at IPG Mediabrands respectively.

Rasu, reporting directly to Global CEO Daryl Lee, will drive internal and external communications strategy for the global media agency network, with responsibility over corporate brand and reputation management, thought leadership, media relations, social media, analyst and influencer relations, employee communications, and corporate social responsibility.

She returns to IPG after a stint as Head of Global Communications at DDB Worldwide. Prior to that, she was as SVP of Global Communications at IPG’s McCann Worldgroup and, earlier, worked in research at Ad Age’s DataCenter.

“It is exciting to have Rahel onboard to help us raise our voice as a global media network with a strong perspective on the world. Rahel understands the power of culture and believes in communications that support our people, our clients, our brands and our values,” said Lee. “Her partnership across the organization will be invaluable as we continue to share our vision for a tech-supported but humanity-centered media future.”

Johnston’s promotion to Global CGO will see her support growth in both Global and EMEA markets, with an eye on delivering market advantage to clients, while also leading on group coordination between Mediabrands and its parent, IPG.

Johnston was previously CEO of Mediabrands subsidiary UM Australia, a role she held from October 2017. During her time at UM Australia, she led the agency to account wins including the Australian Government, David Jones, Menulog, Mattel, and Nestle.

“I am sad to be leaving Coady [Mark Coad] and the team at such an exciting time for UM in Australia. It really is the best bunch of strong, amazing humans and I’m so proud to have been a part of our shared success,” said Johnston.

“Equally the opportunity to craft more of this globally is a great honour indeed. I am excited to work with the global and Europe team to help bring it to life, as I know only we can.”

Ferru gets SVP gig at Here
Location data platform Here Technologies has hired Gino Ferru as Senior Vice President and EMEAR General Manager. He will be responsible for identifying opportunities for customers, partners and developers, across industries, and will leverage the power of location intelligence to solve business problems. He replaces Fred Hessabi, who has been promoted to Chief Customer Officer.

Ferru joins Here from The Netherlands’ Salesforce team, where he was Area Vice President since 2019. In that role, he was focused on strategic accounts and solution integrator partners for the CRM platform giant in many industries including transportation & logistics and technology. Before Salesforce, Ferru worked at C3.ai and SAP.

“I am very pleased to welcome Gino to our team leading the EMEAR region. Gino brings with him a wealth of Software- and Platform-as-a-Service sales expertise that he will use to enable customers to access advanced digital mapping technology and create innovative, location-driven applications,” said Hessabi.

Zefr hands board seat to Argyilan
Kristi Argyilan has been appointed to the Board of Directors at video advertising platform Zefr.

Argyilan most recently joined Bed Bath & Beyond as SVP of Brand Innovation to lead the innovation arm of the BBBY brand team advancing key capabilities, developing new programmes and services to build customer loyalty, and creating new ways to leverage our brand marketing channels. Prior to BBBY, she spent time at Target, originally joining as SVP of Media and eventually being elevated to President of Roundel (previously Target Media Network).

“I’m thrilled to be joining Zefr’s board of directors,” said Argyilan. “For brand marketers, aligning with brand safe and brand suitable content has never been more important, or more challenging. Zefr’s contextual data solutions play a crucial role in solving these important issues, and I’m excited to support the company’s growth.”

Delaney takes up position at helm of Synthesio
Synthesio, an Ipsos social intelligence solution, has chosen Jim Delaney as its Chief Executive Officer. He will be the driving force behind Synthesios strategic focus on consumer insights and its mission to become the most trusted provider in the digital consumer intelligence market.

Delaney has held a number of leadership positions including Divisional President at Dun & Bradstreet, CEO of Sysomos, and CEO of Marketwired.

“Its a great privilege to join the Ipsos team and Synthesio family and I am excited to create value with this talented group of people,” Delaney said. “Synthesio is building the world’s leading consumer intelligence platform, reinforced by Ipsos research credentials, non-social media data, and AI-powered advanced analytics to help its clients truly understand society, markets, and people.”

Babylon makes trio of C-suite hires
Paul-Henri Ferrand, Stacy Saal, and Steve Davis have filled the positions of Chief Business Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Technology Officer, respectively, at digital healthcare service provider Babylon Health.

Ferrand will oversee Babylon’s business development, sales, marketing, and customer success efforts. He is former President of Google Cloud, preceded by his time as Vice President of Google’s US Sales and Operations function. Before Google, he spent 10 years at Dell, as well as holding roles at Nokia and AT&T.

Saal will run Babylon’s operational initiatives. She joins from Amazon, where she led a number of complex and strategically important programmes resulting in the successful launch and expansion of Prime Now and Amazon Fresh, with her recent focus on Prime Air. Prior to Amazon, she served as VP of Operations at the Global Wine Company, CEO of Tom’s Cookies, and Director of Demand Planning at Levi Strauss.

Davis, who will lead Babylon’s AI technology and team of data scientists and engineers, joins from the Expedia Group, where he was Senior VP of AI and Data. Prior to the Expedia Group, Steve held a number of entrepreneurial roles including CIO, CDO and CTO in enterprise SaaS software and marketplaces. He also acted as one of the original executive team members that built HomeAway/VRBO.

“We are thrilled to welcome three new powerhouses to the Babylon leadership team, each bringing their own unique background and wide range of expertise to the table,” said Ali Parsa, Founder of Babylon. “In the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, there has never been a greater need to democratize healthcare and strategically appoint the right leaders to drive the charge. We were highly selective and patient in our search to find the perfect person for each of the three roles we’ve filled, and have no doubt that the resulting team will be well worth the wait.”

Lee named first Wyze CFO
Wyze Labs, a startup producing smart home products, has recruited Francis Lee as its first-ever Chief Financial Officer. He will play an instrumental role in advancing Wyze as an emerging leader building and bringing smart living platform experiences to the masses.

Lee was an Executive at Nike, where he served in the corporate and operating unit financial assignments including Chief Financial Officer of Nike Japan and several VP roles leading global finance & strategy functions. Most recently, he was VP of Global Marketing Finance.

“I am excited to join Wyze and bring a more innovative home experience to people around the world,” Lee said. “We have a unique opportunity to serve our passionate community globally through a platform of products and services that improves users lives. I look forward to working with Yun and the team at Wyze to make high quality, smart technology accessible to everyone, and to create exceptional value for Wyze consumers, partners, and shareholders.”

Audiencerate gets new boss
Filippo Gramigna has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at Audiencerate, a data-driven ad platform. Previously a Strategic Advisor for Audiencerate, he will leverage his understanding of the business and over 20 years of leadership experience to fuel Audiencerate’s global market growth.

Gramigna was most recently Media Strategy and Activations Director, EMEA at Lenovo, where he oversaw the in-housing process of its media capabilities. He has also been VP of Global Sales at Widespace and VP of Global Commercial Partnerships at Adform.

“I am very happy and honoured to join such a fantastic team. We have a very ambitious plan with many new product developments on the horizon, which will help to continue to support companies across the globe to enable the best data-driven advertising,” Gramigna commented. “As the industry evolves in the privacy-first era, we remain fully dedicated to keeping trust and compliance at the heart of our business, while optimising proprietary technology to bridge the gap between data providers, agencies and brands.”

Duo join IAB team
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that Carryl Pierre-Drews has been named Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications and Jeff Murray as Vice President for Public Policy. Pierre-Drews will report directly to CEO David Cohen and Murray will report to Dave Grimaldi, Executive Vice President of Public Policy.

Pierre-Drews will be responsible for overseeing IAB’s marketing and communications organisation to ensure that IAB member companies understand the value of the organisation as a digital, marketing, and media industry thought leader and agenda-setter. Before IAB, Pierre-Drews was VP of Marketing at AT&T WarnerMedia’s Fullscreen, where she built and led the agency’s brand marketing, PR, digital/social channels, influencer engagement, and global industry activations. She has also been SVP of Strategic Marketing at USA Network.

“At IAB, Carryl will bring her passion for data-driven storytelling that connects brands with audiences,” said Cohen. “She has a track record of infusing innovation into the marketing function and building and managing exceptional teams, and I look forward to working with her as we bring new products, data, and thought leadership to our membership and the industry writ large.”

Murray will be responsible for advocating on behalf of IAB member companies before Congress and federal agencies, as well as for developing related policy, messaging, and strategy. Most recently, Murray was Senior Manager of Government Relations at Accenture, where he led Republican outreach to Congress and the Administration, counselling executives on anticipating and navigating political developments, crafting substance and strategy for healthcare and financial services technology initiatives, and aiding the company’s public sector team with business development. Before that, he served as a Counsel to the Georgia State Senate and as an Atalanta Attorney with BakerHostetler.

“IAB is an advocate for its members and promotes the benefits and value of the ad-supported internet,” said Grimaldi. “One of our top priorities is to help advance advocacy efforts to establish national privacy standards that empower both consumers and the businesses that serve them. We are confident Jeff will help create these opportunities for IAB, its member companies, and work with Congress to support a healthy digital advertising ecosystem.”

Given adds Roope to board
Nicolas Roope has joined the Board at creative brand agency Given as an Advisor and Non-exec Creative Leader. He has been hired to help foster the agency’s creative talent, ensure its creative offer is a driver for continued growth, and build its international reputation amongst marketing leaders.

Roope’s Board position will start on the 1 March under Non-executive Chair Jan Gooding, joining Co-founders, executive team members, and Non-exec Advisor Nigel Salter.

“Given pioneered brand purpose, long before it became an industry trend. It means, as well as having a ferocious commitment to driving positive change in organisations, they already have a long legacy of meaningful success stories under their belts,” said Roope. “They’re a highly effective team, but when I was asked by the board to further augment their impressive strategic and consulting capability, by enhancing their creative philosophy and approach, I jumped at the chance. So here I am.”

Senior management reshuffle at Code
Digital product studio Code Computerlove has announced Rob Jones as joint Managing Director, alongside other senior level promotions, as Louis Georgiou takes a more active role at parent company MediaCom North and focuses on Code’s new consultancy services.

Jones, who has been with the agency for more than 13 years, was previously Client Services Director. He will now oversee the delivery of Code’s core products and services, while Georgiou focuses on the agency’s burgeoning agile coaching and organisational design and transformation division.

“To have the opportunity to work alongside Louis to lead Code into its next phase of growth is incredibly exciting and I look forward to delivering a refreshed focus on the development and delivery of digital products supported by such an exceptional team,” said Jones.

“We have the capability and vision to make real our ambition to be the partner of choice for digital products and services businesses, that will enhance our reputation as one of the best, and most fun, digital product studios to work with in the UK.”

In the restructure, Gemma Handley has also been promoted to Commercial Director, while Claire Kerley has moved up to Delivery Director.

Velocix names Berkeley CEO
Anthony Berkeley has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer at video streaming company Velocix.

Berkeley was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Velocix, and he has previously held senior leadership roles in sales, product, and professional services during his 11-year tenure with the company. Prior to Velocix, he held senior positions at Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia.

“I’m excited to lead the next phase of Velocix’s growth, which will be fuelled by our investment in new video streaming and advertising technologies that maximise performance and deliver the lowest cost of ownership to customers,” said Berkeley. “Using our latest hybrid-cloud software, Velocix can deploy on-net, in the cloud, or both, opening new business opportunities for us, and giving our customers the power and flexibility to scale out their platforms more efficiently than ever before.”

Larder to direct on client services at Avantgarde
Avantgarde London, a brand experience agency, has hired Victoria Larder as Client Services Director. She will be leading the client services team, managing relationships across all Avantgarde’s accounts, including Honda, Credit Suisse, and Bridgestone.

Larder arrives at Avantgarde from Pave London, where she was Managing Director, a role she held since 2014. She also previously worked for the likes of Brandfluent and Emap. Earlier in her career she spent time as a radio presenter on commercial radio stations across the UK.

“I really like that Avantgarde is an international agency at the forefront of innovation, creating compelling experiences for brands,” said Larder. “I’m excited to get involved in ‘story doing’ as we create hybrid experiences for clients. Avantgarde are true innovators and are an incredibly nice team to be working with.”

Blue Sky brings in Sally as EVP
Annette Sally has been named Executive Vice President at independent agency Blue Sky. She will be responsible for overseeing the agency’s client relations and new business development.

Sally joins Blue Sky from 22squared, where she was Executive Director of Client Services. In that role, she oversaw clients including The Home Depot, Publix, SunTrust, Baskin Robbins, and Southeast Toyota. She was previously EVP at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Arnold NYC, and Grey Group.

“I’m very excited to be joining an independent agency that consistently elevates client partners to new heights,” said Sally. “I’m especially thrilled to be working alongside Mariana Costa to grow client business to its greatest potential. The culture and energy at Blue Sky is refreshing, and it’s invigorating to partner with such a talented leadership team.”

Turner hired by Covatic
In-app experience company Covatic has turned to Accelerated Mission’s Paul Turner to help it further its go-to-market strategy. Turner’s consulting company, Accelerated Mission, will advise the startup as it creates the necessary foundations to scale rapidly.

Turner has previously been Head of International at Invite Media (acquired by Google), VP of Sales at Adaptly (acquired by Accenture), CCO at Adbrain (acquired by The Trade Desk), and CCO at Arbor (acquired by LiveRamp).

“Covatic’s proposition is truly exciting: It is generating an understanding of physical context in order to create engaging and effortless experiences for consumers in the digital world. I can’t wait to work with the team to help take its proposition to the next level,” said Turner.

MediaVision welcomes new specialists
Holly Anderson and Zee Kazmi have joined MediaVision, a digital marketing agency, as Strategic Client Lead and SEO Executive respectively.

Anderson, who has been working for in-house eCommerce and marketing teams within fashion, beauty, and tech for over six years, will bring a strong knowledge across all platforms and an in-depth understanding of the creative side of retail, from introducing new marketing channels to producing digital marketing strategies.

“I aim to bring invaluable brand knowledge into the team which will help us to support each client’s individual needs through a multi-faceted approach,” said Anderson.

Kazmi, a Google Certified SEO, has been successfully driving SEO campaigns for popular Italian fashion and beauty retail outlets.

“I’m excited to be working with the MediaVision team on various clients, using my experience in SEO and knowledge of Digital Marketing, I aim to achieve some great results for the company,” added Kazmi.

Hires and promotions at Fingerpaint
Health and wellness marketing agency Fingerpaint has hired Laura Yoars to lead account service in the company’s Cedar Knolls, New Jersey office, while Beth Beck has been promoted to lead its Saratoga Springs, New York office and Bill McEllen elevated to lead all of Fingerpaint’s advertising offices.

Yoars will lead and manage the account service team in first-in-class service to the agency’s clients. She joins from Manifest, where she was SVP of Client Services.

Beck, who becomes a member of the Fingerpaint Operating Board, has been with the agency for over a year, having previously held the role that Yoars now has.

McEllen will lead Fingerpaint’s offices in Saratoga Springs, New York; Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; Cedar Knolls, New Jersey; and Phoenix, Arizona. He joined Finger paint in 2016 as head of the Saratoga Springs office.

The post Movers and Shakers: FreeWheel, Reprise, IPG Mediabrands, Here, and more appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

In wider economic terms, a five per cent fall in spending isn’t too bad. In the second quarter of the year alone, UK GDP was down 20.4 per cent.

Over the first half of the year, video and display ad spend actually grew, with video up 5.7 per cent year-on-year to £1.35bn and display increasing 0.3 per cent to £2.84bn. Meanwhile, spend on mobile devices only suffered a one per cent hit, falling to £3.85bn.

Elsewhere, investment in search ads slid 3.7 per cent to £3.7bn, compared to the first half of 2019, and classified took a big 33 per cent hit in tumbling down to £485m.

The overall fall in the UK’s digital advertising spend can be attributed to uncertainty around the pandemic. However, advertisers may have missed out on many opportunities to reach people with the decision to reduce spend. Across the first half of 2020, time spent online in the UK was up 13 per cent compared to the same period of 2019, as you would expect given the number of people either working from home or on furlough.

“It’s not surprising that this year has seen the total digital advertising market contract as our industry deals with the upheaval and uncertainty of the pandemic. The data released today is hugely useful in understanding the health of the digital ad market as a whole and how different areas are faring – yet we know that this continues to be a hugely challenging time for many of our members and that the relatively small decline in digital ad spend at an industry-wide level won’t reflect the individual situations of all,” said Jon Mew, IAB UK’s CEO.

“Yet there is cause for hope. Following 22 years of consecutive growth, the digital ad market went into this crisis in a position of strength and it’s great to see some areas of growth, despite the circumstances. Most importantly, digital advertising continues to drive results, build brands and offer unique creative solutions for advertisers looking to reach huge and engaged audiences.”

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Hyundai selects Zepeda as marketing head
Angela Zepeda has been hired as chief marketing officer at Hyundai Motor America. Reporting to Hyundai Motor America chief operating officer Brian Smith, she will be responsible for all of Hyundais marketing and advertising activities in the US, including the strategic direction, brand development, national and regional advertising, experiential marketing, digital and social media, brand partnerships, and lead generation, among other responsibilities.

Zepeda arrives at Hyundai with more than 25 years of experience. Most recently, she was senior vice president and managing director at Hyundai’s agency of record Innocean USA, where she handled all operations for the Hyundai business including creative, planning, and media operations. She was initially hired by the agency to head up business development.

Before Innocean, Zepeda was chief executive officer of Quigley-Simpson and, prior to that, CMO at Campbell Ewald-Los Angeles. She has also worked at agencies including TBWA\Chiat\Day, Team One, Rapp, Doner, and FCB.

“Its a great honour to be going in-house at Hyundai and Im excited by the challenge of leading the marketing team during this transitional time for the automotive industry,” said Zepeda. “Hyundai is a brand on an upward trajectory with sales growth that outpaces the industry, a revamped product line up, and a laser focus on the customer experience. Im looking forward to getting started and building upon the marketing departments recent successes and accomplishments.”

Richter named chair of board at IAB Tech Lab
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab has elected SpotX chief scientist Neal Richter as chair of its board of directors. He will play a key role in guiding the Tech Lab’s work to evolve privacy-compliant standards for programmatic advertising, simplify video ad delivery, increase supply chain transparency, and reduce fraud, among other initiatives.

Richter has more than 20 years of experience leading software teams and developing data-driven products. As co-chair of Tech Lab’s OpenRTB Working Group, he has helped the development of the OpenRTB protocol.

“It is an absolute honour to be elected chair of Tech Lab’s board of directors,” Richter said. “Having spent the past eight years collaborating with other members on standards like OpenRTB, I know how important our work is in building a better digital supply chain. I can’t wait to take an even larger role in driving the agenda and creating guidance and technology that supports the growth of video, audio, and other content and services worldwide.”

The IAB Tech Lab board also elected Eric Picard, Pandora’s vice president of advertising product management, to join its six-member executive committee.

The Ozone Project hires three
Bryan Scott has joined digital advertising marketplace The Ozone Project as marketing communications director, while Lucille Brune has taken the position of head of trading and Karen Ritchie as head of account management.

Reporting to chief executive officer Damon Reeve, Scott will lead the development and execution of the marketing, communications and event strategy. He has held positions at Capital Radio, DGMT and, most recently, Primesight, where he led the marketing team through the company’s acquisition by Global.

Brune, reporting to Ozone Audience managing director Craig Tuck, will focus on implementing campaign optimisation strategies specifically tailored to drive revenue growth and improve the advertiser experience. She joins from Captify, where she was trading director, working across Havas, Publicis, OMD, Aegis Media and independent agencies.

Ritchie arrives at The Ozone Project from STAQ. She will report to director of business development Dipti Patel and will focus on creating a streamlined approach to the on-boarding process for publisher partnerships, while identifying opportunities for publishers to grow their digital advertising revenue.

“As we complete our first year, The Ozone Project has made significant progress in delivering real scale for brands reaching engaged audiences in brand-safe and quality environments,” said Reeve. “By generating real business results for advertisers, we are closing the digital gap between brands and publishers and improving value for both. Delivering these results for advertisers are a wonderful and dynamic team, and we’re delighted that Lucille, Bryan and Karen are joining as we build the digital advertising environment of the future for brands and publishers.”

Flohr heads to Fox to lead on tech
Fox Corporation has recruited Yoel Flohr as executive vice president of technology & digital. Reporting to chief technology officer and president of digital Paul Cheesbrough, he will lead the digital product portfolio for Fox Entertainment.

Flohr will oversee digital products and relationships, including Fox Now, and will work closely with the Fox Entertainment team to develop and grow new digital businesses, partnerships and revenues.

He previously served as EVP of digital and franchise development for AMC Networks and Studios, where he oversaw its digital business. At AMC, Flohr promoted the development of global franchises like The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and The Terror and ran the TV Everywhere business for all of AMC’s brands. Prior to AMC, he co-founded Thirty Labs and, earlier, founded Ventuation following his time as VP of digital at Shine Group.

“Yoel is the ideal leader to propel Fox Entertainment’s multi-platform and product management initiatives and partnerships,” commented Cheesbrough. “I am delighted to welcome him to the team and look forward to working together to build and grow our digital capabilities and revenue streams.”

Blackberry expands executive team with promotions
John McClurg has been promoted to chief information security officer and Christopher Hummel to chief information officer at Blackberry. Reporting to executive chairman and chief executive officer John Chen, both will begin their new roles on 26 October.

McClurg is currently Blackberry Cylance’s vice president, where he joined from a role as Dell’s chief security officer in 2016. AS CISO, he will lead all aspects of BlackBerry’s information security program globally, ensuring the development and implementation of cybersecurity policies and procedures across all divisions and corporate functions. McClurg will be responsible for identifying, evaluating and reporting on information security risks to the executive team, and serve as a company evangelist of best practices in cybersecurity.

Prior to working at Dell, he held senior positions at Honeywell International, Lucent Technologies/Bell Laboratories, the US Intelligence Community, the Department of Energy, the FBI, and the CIA.

Hummel, who is currently Blackberry’s vice president of IT and business application solutions, will serve as a transformational leader within BlackBerry, responsible for providing insights to the executive leadership on key technological innovations, ensuring IT considerations drive key initiatives across the company, and maintaining the highest level of enterprise security and employee privacy.

Hummel brings over 20 years of IT leadership experience to the role including service delivery, project management, network integration, and new business development across international locations. He joined Blackberry in 2012.

“These promotions recognise the impact of John and Christopher’s outstanding leadership in their respective roles,” Chen said. “With their skills and expertise, they will continue to work closely with me and the rest of the executive team to ensure continuity and growth across our business.”

Gott gets analytics practice lead role at Merkle
Merkle, a Dentsu Aegis Network agency, has promoted Ben Gott to the role of EMEA analytics practice leader. Reporting directly to Merkle EMEA president Michael Komasinski, his new role responds to the increasingly sophisticated and fast changing data and technology landscape, and sees the existing analytics teams from Merkle’s performance media agency and customer analytics business across EMEA brought together.

Gott, who was previously senior vice president of analytics & strategy, was director of analytics at Periscopix when it was acquired by Merkle in 2015.

“We have created several exciting analytical service offerings with clear value adds for Merkle and its clients,” said Gott. “I look forward to working with the incredible talent we have to make Merkle Analytics a unique and scaled proposition in EMEA. My vision is that this unit will drive Merkle’s solution development and elevate the Dentsu Aegis Network’s data, tech and analytics capabilities.”

Adform chooses Acton to lead UK team
Phil Acton has been appointed UK country manager at ad tech firm Adform. He will be responsible for further expanding Adform’s vision of an integrated advertising platform, drawing on his expertise in sales, new business development and account management to head up the UK team.

Acton will also cultivate and develop new and existing client relationships, as well as build on partnerships with brands, media and creative agencies.

He brings over 20 years of experience into the role including seven years at Adobe and 15 years in advertising and marketing software sales across the UK and EMEA.

Berman hired to take charge of comms at LivePerson
LivePerson, a conversational commerce solutions provider, has named Craig Berman as its senior vice president of global communications. He will lead the company’s internal and external communications strategy.

Most recently, Berman led public relations for Amazon Entertainment. Before that, he advised Jeff Bezos on corporate and crisis communications, led consumer public relations for Amazon’s retail business, and spearheaded communications for Amazon’s fulfilment network.

Prior to Amazon, Berman held leadership positions at MWWPR and worked in politics running and advising congressional and legislative campaigns. He began his career working for his home Congressman, John Kasich.

“LivePerson’s vision for conversational commerce is no less than a complete reimagining of how consumers experience their day-to-day interactions with brands,” said Berman. “Im thrilled to join LivePerson’s team of experts to tell the stories of how the brands we work with are changing the lives of their customers for the better.”

Avantgarde adds creative team of Cox and Terzic
Zander Cox and Marty Terzic have joined brand experience agency Avantgarde London as creative copywriter and art director respectively.

Both join Avantgarde from DDB, and previously worked together at FCB Inferno and Saatchi & Saatchi across clients including BMW, Oreo, Visa, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Betway, and Huawei.

The team’s responsibilities at Avantgarde centre on idea generation and development, focusing primarily on new business opportunities.

“Story has always been at the heart of everything Marty and I do, and in turn, it lies at the heart of everything that we work on,” said Cox. “We always strive to bring these stories to people in a way that means they can be immersed and active within them. We’re not talking to them, but talking with them, allowing us to shape the story together.”

Terzic added: “Avantgarde gives Zander and I the platform to create full immersive experiences that have storytelling at the heart of every project, giving people the opportunity to not just hear about the story, but to actually live it.”

Board and C-suite bolstered at Brandwatch
Digital consumer intelligence firm Brandwatch has introduced new board and executive team members. Guy Berruyer joins as chairman of the board, with Fergus Gloster taking his place as a non-executive director. Meanwhile, Eva Klein arrives as chief customer officer and Dan Freund as chief sales officer, joining Ian Collins, who joined earlier this year as chief financial officer.

Berruyer is currently also chairman of the board at Softomotive. He, most notably, served as chief executive officer at Sage for 17 years.

Gloster has the non-executive director role at Teamwork.com, Condeco, and Brightpearl alongside his new gig with Brandwatch. He was one of the founders of Salesforces European commercial presence and led Marketos European growth for over four years.

Klein, most recently, led customer success at Hubspot. She also led teams at Constant Contact, Invoca, Enservio and FatWallet.

Freund arrives from the role of chief sales officer at QuickBase. Prior to this, Freund worked at Oracle for more than 16 years.

Collins was global finance director at Christie’s, finance director at Twentieth Century Fox, chief financial officer at Marv Films, and had 10 years in senior finance roles at EMI.

“This next chapter for Brandwatch will see more growth and an expansion of our offerings in digital consumer intelligence,” said Giles Palmer, CEO of Brandwatch. “Weve hired executives and non-executives who are capable of running a company many times our size. Its an ambitious move and the best team Ive ever worked with. I feel privileged to lead them, and Im excited to see what we can build to help our customers be more successful.”

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The TCF was reviewed for 12 months, during which time it was subject to feedback from all sectors of the digital advertising industry and nine meetings with Data Protection Authorities from around Europe.

The TCF 2.0 enables consumers to not only grant or withhold consent but also to exercise their ‘right to object’ to data being processed. Furthermore, consumers gain more control over whether and how vendors may use certain features of data processing, such as using precise geolocation.

Meanwhile, publishers are able to restrict the purposes for which personal data is processed by vendors on their websites on a per-vendor basis.

 “The original TCF was launched to help a complex industry value chain manage their obligations under new regulations, notably the GDPR. With the number of constituents involved and disparate regulatory interpretations across multiple jurisdictions, it was essential that the evolution of the framework was handled sensitively, with the final specifications able to be adopted in a manner consistent with differing business models in a wide range of operational markets,” said Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO.

“Whilst the TCF will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our dynamic industry, I am confident this update addresses all the feedback we have received from many DPAs throughout Europe, as well as the needs of each part of the digital advertising value chain.”

To create the updated framework, the TCF steering group drafted new policy documents and engaged with IAB Tech Lab, which managed the technical specifications. This steering group was made up of representation from 10 national IABs, 55 organisations, and EU-level associations, publishers, media owners, technology providers, and media agencies.

TCF 2.0 will operate alongside TCF 1.1 until the end of Q1 2020, giving publishers and consent management platforms time to adopt the improved framework and giving vendors time to implement the code needed to adhere to the protocol.

The post IAB Europe releases updated GDPR-related transparency and consent guidelines appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

An Outbrain survey of 1,000 UK consumers found that 75 per cent of people are unable to recall brands from ads that meet minimum viewability standards.

“As an industry, we have a challenge around how we measure viewability vs engagement.” said Gilad de Vries, SVP of strategy at Outbrain. “Instead of focusing on more accurate engagement metrics, brands are still overpaying for higher viewability, and falsely assuming this guarantees higher engagement.”

The research also found that 95 per cent of consumers are more likely to have a negative attitude towards a brand that interrupts browsing – with pop-ups voted the most annoying ad formats (56 per cent), followed by auto-play video with sound (45 per cent).

57 per cent of respondents said that relevance is the most important factor when it comes to engaging with ads, and 20 per cent pay more attention to content from the same brand in future after seeing a relevant ad from them. Meanwhile, 44 per cent are most likely to trust a product advertised on a premium publisher site.

Banners at the top of the page capture the most attention of 26 per cent of people, while 24 per cent pay most attention to content recommendations at the end of an article.

Outbrain also surveyed 190 media professionals and found that 25 per cent of them weren’t sure about how the IAB defines a viewable ad, while 19 per cent thought more than 50 per cent of pixels ad to appear on-screen for more than three consecutive seconds.

The IAB actually defines a viewable ad as being one which appears at least 50 per cent on-screen for more than one second. Nonetheless, only 11 per cent of respondents believe the current definition is ideal.

The post Viewable ads still fail to capture consumer attention: report appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The findings are based on the Ipsos MORI Omnibus Survey fielded in March 2019, in which 950 European-based brand representatives participated. The respondents represent media decision makers across all job titles and 16 major ad categories. All are qualified as involved in making digital, television, mobile, radio, and/or print media decisions. Pre-Meditated Media, LLC authored the study by integrating insights from the Ipsos MORI Omnibus Survey, executive interviews, and industry research. According to the IAB US website, the report was published “with the support of the IAB Data Center of Excellence and Accenture Interactive.”

It found that in the UK, 88 per cent of respondents had either moved the function completely in-house (48 per cent) or done so in part (40 per cent). In France, the figure was 88 per cent (43 per cent in-house, 45 per cent in part). For Germany it was 89 per cent (35 per cent in-house, 54 per cent in part). For Italy, 86 per cent (45 per cent in-house, 41 per cent in part). And for Spain, 78 per cent. (32 per cent in-house, 46 per cent in part).

But the figures, and Accenture’s involvement in the report, have led some to question the findings. Ryan Skeggs, chief commercial officer at GiveMeSport, told Mobile Marketing: “I do get sceptical when you get these sponsored pieces of work. According to the study, 40 per cent of UK advertisers have in-housed programmatic. If that’s the case, then I don’t understand why my sales guys are spending money and maintaining relationships with trading desks and agencies. There are partners we work with that have programmatic teams client side, but is still activated by the agency. Looking at recent activity, I see four advertisers, of which one I would class as having their own internal team. The other three, yes they have a programmatic team client side, but it is still all transacted by the agency, and I would bet my bottom dollar that other publishers would paint a similar picture.”

Skeggs also questions Accenture’s involvement with the report. He said: “With all due respect to Accenture, their business model for programmatic is to help clients do it in house, so this smells a bit iffy. Practical experience and my own gut feeling, plus that of others I have spoken to, says these numbers feel a little bit whack. We see where the money is coming from and know the clients we have direct relationships with.

“The worrying thing is that this comes from the IAB, which is supposed to be an independent body, that the industry is supposed to trust, but they are putting this out in partnership with a company that has a vested interest in companies in-housing.”

Alex Rahaman, chairman of rich media ad tech firm Nexd, also expressed surprise at the study’s findings. He told us: ““In my experience in Europe, few brands have taken even part of their programmatic buying in house let alone all. I’m not sure why these brands are declaring they have done this bar to appear enlightened. Maybe a global Auto brand or FMCG may have the scale to do this, but the vast majority still rely on their agency to use DSPs. Some rare exceptions could be the luxury brands in Italy who often don’t use media agencies.”

We asked the IAB US to clarify Accenture Interactive’s involvement with the research, but have so far not had a response.

Update:
On Monday, 29 April, the IAB told us:
“Accenture Interactive was simply the sponsor of the research alongside the IAB Data Center of Excellences board, which includes a variety of companies across the ecosystem. Accenture Interactive did not have anything to do with the development, execution, or presentation of the research or findings beyond serving as a sponsor.”

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The Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) was launched one year ago, in partnership with IAB Tech Lab, to provide a common framework to aid the entirety of the advertising value chain in complying with Europe’s data protection laws.

However, the framework has come under fire over allegations that it facilitates data breaches – claims IAB Europe vehemently denies.

Nonetheless, the industry association has introduced the TCF v2.0 in response to feedback from both the market and EU member state data protection authorities. This new version offers more transparency and control for consumers, greater control for publishers, and enhanced accommodation of the GDPR’s ‘legitimate interests’ legal basis for processing personal data.

It expands on the original five purposes for processing personal data, bringing the number up to 12; enables users to express their ‘right to object’ to a vendor through a TCF consent management platform; and brings more controls over whether and how vendors may use certain features of data processing.

“TCF v2.0 is an important evolution of the standard that is forward-thinking from a technology point of view, taking good account of regulatory guidance and market feedback, especially from publishers,” said Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe. “An exercise that is this inclusive of course takes time, but the outcome is a robust update that is fit for purpose in an environment of intense regulatory scrutiny.”

Dennis Buchheim, SVP and GM of IAB Tech Lab, added: “This release allows publishers, advertisers, and their partners to more easily comply with GDPR and also facilitates a better experience for users. We appreciate IAB Tech Lab member contributions and leadership in the development of version 2.0 and look forward to rapid industry adoption once the specifications are finalised.”

The IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework v2.0 is available for public comment for the next 30 days, ending on the one-year anniversary of the implementation of GDPR, 25 May.

The post IAB Europe updates GDPR-related transparency and consent guidelines appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

IAB Europe brings in its first chief economist
Dr Daniel Knapp has been appointed as IAB Europe’s first chief economist. The European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem created the role to strengthen its market analysis and economic research offering for its corporate members and network of national IABs.

Knapp joins IAB Europe with more than 15 years of international experience in advertising research and forecasting. Most recently he was executive director for advertising research at global information company, IHS Markit. Knapp’s research areas span all domains of digital advertising, with emphasis in video, programmatic, platform economics, the business application of AI/ML technologies, agency transformation, and buy- and sell-side optimisation.

“The digital advertising industry is one of the fastest growing and evolving sectors I’ve worked with. From new policies and regulations, to emerging channels and industry challenges, there has rarely been so much scrutiny or success applicable to one industry,” said Knapp. “I’m excited to be a part of IAB Europe’s new academic division, as they ramp up their research and insight expertise to members and industry stakeholders. It’s crucial, that as the voice of digital advertising across Europe, IAB Europe continues to lead on identifying and sharing the latest trends and insights to innovative and sustain this sector.”

MediaCom makes changes from within
Tom Curtis, previous head of MediaCom Beyond Advertising (MBA), has been appointed to the newly-created role of executive creative director as the company looks to solidify its creative-first culture.

As a result, Dan Wood and Paul Tremain will jointly take over leadership of MBA. Wood’s job will be to grow partnerships, manage media owner relationships, and commerciality, while Tremain will drive branded content and production and also take up a position on MediaCom’s managing partners board.

The final move will see Lindsey Jordan take up the position of head of media creativity.

“We are incredibly proud to announce a new structure at MediaCom that builds on our existing creative talents and strengthens our position in the industry,” said Luke Bozeat, COO at MediaCom. “The team continue to work across a broad range of campaigns and will no doubt impress clients and colleagues with their outstanding talent.”

King crowned as Blis’ global commercial officer
Location data technology firm Blis has appointed Dave King as global commercial officer. Starting in April, King will join an executive team that features fellow recent appointees in CTO Aaron McKee and CMO Diane Perlman.

King was previously UK MD at Exterion Media, executive commercial director at Telegraph Media Group and MD of Emap Advertising. He brings an in-depth understanding of the market and has delivered successful commercial strategies, working closely with agencies and advertisers.

“My career has been marked by implementing results-driven business transformation in the media industry, and I am excited about the opportunity to join the leadership team and apply this experience at Blis, a company that I’ve been following for years and was also an early investor in,” he said. “Scaling up successfully requires a vision, clear strategy and a success culture – I will be drawing on my experience to help take Blis to the next level.” 

Swrve appoints Aleardi as chief revenue officer
Mobile marketing automation platform Swrve has hired Joe Aleardi as CRO to fuel the company’s customer experience strategy and guide it through its next stage of growth.

Aleardi was responsible for IBM Watson’s go-to-market planning and execution, which included driving improvements in sales execution, customer acquisition, and engagement.

“The company has demonstrated to stand out as a leader in the sector delivering relevant interactions in real-time,” he said. “Consumer journeys are moving at the speed of now, and are no longer taking place in just one or two channels. I look forward to fortifying Swrves position in the market as the go-to solution for brands building connections with consumers in this dynamic landscape.”  

Dr Kelly becomes marketing practice director at Jaywing
Dr Catherine Kelly has been appointed as marketing practice director at Jaywing, a data science, AI, and marketing firm.

Kelly first joined Jaywing’s data science team in 2017 and has been instrumental in the development of its marketing effectiveness proposition, implementing AI within attribution modelling and introducing more of a focus on data-driven personalisation and econometrics. Before joining Jaywing, she held the role of senior manager within Asda’s data science team.

“It has been abundantly clear to me since joining that Jaywing leads the way in data attribution modelling, and is developing the kind of highly specialised and tailored techniques that will shape marketing practices of the future,” said Kelly. “I look forward to taking the lead in ensuring brands leverage the incredible tools we develop to create truly impactful campaigns.”

Wharrad and Gervais join Mood Media
Mood Media, an in-store media solutions company, has hired Jonathan Wharrad and Alexandre Gervais. Wharrad has joined the firm’s London international headquarters as global vice president of Mood Media’s advanced solutions group (ASG), while Gervais will lead sales and business development at the company’s Paris office.

Under Wharrad’s command, the ASG will develop interactive and sensory experiences for clients on a global scale – with a focus on the luxury retail, banking, insurance and automotive sectors. He boasts 20 years’ experience in the technology and customer experience sectors and joins Mood Media from Grassfish and Moki, where he led the growth of customer experience software solutions to international scale. He will report to Simon Bexon, SVP of global systems, visual and affiliate.

“This is an incredible opportunity to take Mood’s existing offering to the next level and build relationships with some of the biggest brands across the globe,” said Wharrad. “Our aim is to help brick and mortar retailers face the ever-evolving future of Customer Experience and engagement, with a focus on offering brand value in-store in a way that is genuinely scalable.”

Gervais also brings 20 years of experience with him into his sales and business development role. In this role, he will manage c-level projects and negotiations, while taking charge of key French and international accounts including Nissan, Renault, Montblanc and PSA. He joins Mood Media from French retail and design agencies such as Malherbe Paris and Market Value.

“I am delighted to be joining a company that is already seen as a market leader in its field” said Gervais. “The creation of the new team presents a unique opportunity to cement Mood’s expertise in audio-visual Customer Experiences, and I’m excited to be a part of this amazing challenge.”

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