Tag Archives: hire

Appointments, Creative News, Marketing, PR and SEO, News

Fox + Hare appoints Mark Smith as first Managing Director following period of significant growth

Independent purpose-driven creative consultancy Fox + Hare has appointed Mark Smith as its first ever Managing Director, following a period of significant growth.

Smith joins Fox + Hare bringing with him 28 years of marketing industry experience, with previous roles including Co-Founder and Managing Director at Table 19 (working with clients such as Sky and Carphone Warehouse), Managing Partner at LIDA/M&C Saatchi (working with clients such as RBS/NatWest, The FA and Carnival Cruises) and Managing Director at SevenC3 (with clients including Vitality, Bosch and WW).

In his new role, Smith will work to ensure that Fox + Hare provides an outstanding offering to its growing list of clients. He will focus on winning new business and developing the consultancy’s proposition, and he will also play a pivotal role in Fox + Hare’s plans to expand into international markets including the US and Europe.

In line with the consultancy’s recent B Corp and EcoVadis accreditations, Smith is also tasked with helping its clients drive positive impact as well as delivering against their commercial objectives.

His appointment follows a period of significant growth for Fox + Hare, which has seen it pick up new clients including Britvic Group, easyJet holidays, OneID and Vestiaire Collective, as well as achieving organic growth from its existing client base.

The hire also comes hot on the heels of the appointment of a new leadership team and a rebrand for the consultancy earlier this year.

Smith will report to Craig Hares, Founder, Fox + Hare and will oversee the day-to-day operation of a team of up to 20, initially.

 

Mark Smith, new Managing Director, Fox + Hare, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast growing and extremely talented agency that’s focused on purpose driven outcomes that fit today’s society. Fox + Hare is committed to really making a difference in the positive impact space, for both our clients and their customers. I’m thrilled at the prospect of making #ImpactEveryDay, and helping guide the agency to the next stage in its very exciting journey.”

 

Craig Hares, Founder, Fox + Hare, added: “Mark has impressive industry experience, having held senior positions across some exciting agency groups. He also has an incredible thirst for developing people, making positive change, innovation, and doing things differently in business – a passion we both share.

 

“As someone who has already achieved a huge amount in his career, Mark was looking for a new challenge. This newly created role will enable him to be part of an organisation that is making a clear difference to people, planet and businesses.”

 

 

News, Transport

Coach Hire Comparison on course for record year as bookings soar

A coach hire price comparison website is on track for a record year as bookings surge amid the travel industry’s ongoing revival.

Coach Hire Comparison provided more than 26,000 quotes between January and March, with bookings totalling £1.4m.

More than 10,000 quotes were provided in March, the highest monthly total since the business was established in 2010 by husband-and-wife team James and Laura Stokes.

James said he expects bookings for the year as a whole to reach £5.5m – double the 2021 figure, which was itself a record as the travel industry bounced back following the easing of COVID restrictions.

Alongside the travel revival, improvements to Coach Hire Comparison’s offering have driven growth, including an enhanced Away from Base service that enables operators to utilise their vehicles during a stay at a destination.

Coach Hire Comparison, which is based in Shirland, Derbyshire, works with over 200 independent coach and minibus operators across England, Scotland and Wales. The figure has risen by over 25 per cent since the autumn. Operators pay a monthly fee to be listed on the website.

James said: “We anticipated that 2022 would be our busiest ever year, but I don’t think anyone in the industry would have predicted the first quarter would see as much demand as there has been. It certainly surpassed our expectations.”

Events such as horse racing’s Cheltenham Festival in March – the first time since 2020 that fans have been allowed to attend – helped drive Coach Hire Comparison’s stellar performance. Around 200 coaches were booked through the site, double the usual number for the four-day festival.

A resurgence in air travel has led to a sharp increase in airport transfers, while demand for school trips, corporate bookings and music festivals has continued to grow. James said bookings for stag and hen party trips have also soared.

“Many hen and stag groups have opted to stay in the UK rather than face the hassle of organising overseas trips. Also, given rising fuel costs, they have tended to travel together by minibus or coach to their destination, rather than separately in cars,” he said.

“Our enhanced Away from Base offering has also stimulated bookings, as it offers operators an excellent way to utilise vehicles which are in another part of the country for a few days awaiting a return journey. They are able to advertise the availability of their coaches and minibuses while they are there.

“For example, an operator is taking a party from the London area to Blackpool for this coming weekend and, due to high fuel prices, opted to have the driver and coach remain in the resort rather than return to base empty and then having to go and pick up the group three nights later.

“The company took advantage of Away from Base to advertise that the coach would be there, and secured a booking within 24 hours to take fans from the north west to Wembley and back for the FA Cup Semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City this coming weekend.

“Away from Base has been really well received and has had a marked impact on booking levels.

“We are also seeing other initiatives bearing fruit and driving activity, including the rebrand we undertook during the first Covid lockdown in 2020 and ongoing investment to improve our processes and enhance the user experience. The work we have done during the pandemic with creative agency Fluid Ideas is really paying off.

“Our strong performance in the first three months of 2022, the development of our website and technical enhancements, as well as increasing number of operators using our service, gives us great confidence for the full year and beyond.”

Operators using the Coach Hire Comparison website are typically small, owner-driver businesses with up to five vehicles, ranging from eight-seater minibuses to double decker coaches.

News

Born Social names new business manager

Born Social has today announced Jenni Evans as Senior New Business Manager.

Jenni joins the agency from the Accenture-owned ad agency Karmarama where she held the role of new business and marketing manager, helping the agency secure global brands, including: Lidl, Nando’s, Halfords, NCS, Arla Foods, Just Eat and Confused.com. Prior to joining Born Social, she held positions at Sue Ryder and Creative Brief.

A firm supporter of women’s rights, Jenni created the network Represent Creative to provide advice for women seeking creative careers and was awarded a WACL Talent Award 2021, celebrating emerging future female leaders working in media, marketing, advertising and communications. She is also a Squiggly Career advocate.

Ed Knight, Head of New Business & Marketing, Born Social, says “Jenni brings a superb background in fast growing agencies, brands, and intermediaries. We’re hugely excited about what Jenni will bring to the New Business and Marketing team and how she can help to continue to drive our growth over the coming years..”

Commenting on her new role at Born Social, Jenni says: “I’m over the moon to join Born Social at such an exciting stage of its growth. I believe we have some of the most forward-thinking people in the industry here, and I’m excited to see what we will deliver for our clients in the present and future.”

Appointments, Marketing, PR and SEO, News

AML Group promote Hugo Bone to ECD

Independent creative agency, AML Group,  has promoted Hugo Bone to the role of Executive Creative Director.

Hugo joined the agency in April as Creative Director from The Gate and has worked across AML’s broad portfolio of international clients including: Vanguard; BNP Paribas and the UK Government.

Commenting on the promotion Ian Henderson, CEO, AML Group says: “In the six months Hugo has been working with us he has more than lived up to his reputation as a first-class creative talent. And as AML move into a further period of growth with some exciting campaigns on the table, Hugo is the ideal person to drive the creative life of the agency and shape its future.”

Working across a number of sectors including financial services, tech and government, AML has garnered a reputation for taking complex ideas and delivering straightforward, distinctive campaigns – embracing the agency’s ethos of ‘simple ideas for a complicated world’.

“AML is an agency that never shies away from a challenge – confident in their ability to work closely with clients to dig deep and reveal the simple ideas that make a big difference.” Says Hugo “To say I’m excited by this opportunity is an understatement! AML is a brave, ambitious agency and I can’t wait to help push our creative offer to the next level.”

News

Born Social promote influencer marketing specialist to head up social role

Born Social has today announced Steph Ross as new Head of Social Media Management.

Having joined Born Social in 2017 as an account manager, Steph’s role later evolved into a senior social media manager job before starting her new role. Prior to joining the agency, she worked in marketing for a range of FMCG challenger brands, including PROPERCORN.

Steph has helped shape Born Social’s influencer marketing output having worked with global brands including Veet, Air Wick and Valspar. As Head of Social Media Management, Steph will be responsible for directing the wider social media management and client services teams. She will also pilot a number of new initiatives across community management, platform expertise, reactivity and creator product.

Ben Tyson, CEO and Partner, Born Social, says “Steph has been an integral part of our social media management team since she joined over four years ago, playing a pivotal role in some of our most successful client campaigns. We’re delighted that she is now in a position to lead the department she’s helped to shape in that time, on to bigger and better things.”

Commenting on her new role at Born Social, Steph says: “I’m really excited to step into the new role and help drive Born Social towards our lead agency vision, both through best in class, social-first output, and through the leadership of my team to do the same.”

News

Admix Strengthens In-Play Leadership For The Americas

 Marty Berman joins Admix as VP Sales US and LATAM 

Admix, the pioneering In-Play advertising platform that bridges the gap between gaming and advertising, announces the appointment of senior advertising industry leader Marty Berman as VP of Sales for North America and LATAM.

Berman’s appointment signals the latest phase of Admix’s 2021 US growth strategy, which will see the experienced teambuilder spearhead a major talent acquisition drive across the US, with Q3 and Q4 hires planned for New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Chicago native will work closely with Michael Silberberg, Admix’s New York-based VP of Global Partnerships.

He joins Admix with over two decades of media and advertising industry experience, having held senior leadership roles at global organizations such as InMobi, Integrate Marketing, NBC Internet, Triad and Monster, with key accounts including American Family Insurance, United Airlines, GMC and Progressive Insurance.

The gaming industry is at a tipping point following the change in consumer habits accelerated by Covid-19, which accelerated gaming’s mainstream cultural awareness and hypergrowth. Consumers now spend more time gaming than they do on social media, creating both an opportunity and a challenge for brands to reach the three billion active gamers globally given the intrusiveness of many gaming advertising formats. Admix’s proprietary rendering technology has been engineered from the ground up, to insert demanding ad creatives into any 3D environment.

Marty Berman, VP Sales for North America and LATAM, commented:

“I’m excited to join Admix at a time where mobile games compete with social media as a pastime. Major brands have not yet been able to leverage this tremendous scale in a meaningful way, with gaming audiences historically only available for advertisers to reach via manual activations. As demand increases exponentially to buy gaming inventory programmatically, Admix is in the lead position to deliver a solution to the Northern America and LATAM markets that solve the major barriers of scale to reach this elusive audience. Reaching the gaming audience via In-Play media will continue to grow rapidly given its non-intrusive nature and the ability to automate the process programmatically, properly target, measure and prove ROI.”

Announcing the hire, Samuel Huber, CEO at Admix, commented:

“Admix aims to provide the education and infrastructure to monetize gaming content non-intrusively via In-Play. As consumers increasingly socialize, play and shop in virtual worlds, there are unlimited opportunities for brands and publishers in this fast-growing metaverse. With an incredible depth and variety of innovative, world-class brands, agencies and games publishers, North America and LATAM are at the forefront of the gaming media channel. Marty is a critical hire who will help Admix communicate the significant benefits of In-Play advertising, and he will also be instrumental in building our boots on-the-ground team across the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest.”

Over the last year, Admix has experienced hypergrowth with an 800% revenue increase driven by unprecedented inbound and direct sales, and expects to double in size from 40 to 100 staff this year.

News

Born Social hire creative strategist from Amsterdam agency

Award winning social media agency, Born Social, has appointed creative strategist, Joe Jordan.

Joe joins Born Social from Amsterdam based media company, Dept Agency, where he held the role of senior creative, leading creative work for global brands including: Netflix, JBL, Accell Group and Uber/Uber Eats. In 2020, he received two Lovie Awards for his work on the ‘Raise The Bar’ social-first campaign for American audio manufacturer, JBL’s new soundbar range. While at Dept Agency, Joe helped launch a new line of eco-friendly streetwear Dept Apparel.

Born Social’s Executive Creative Director & Partner, Paddy Smith, says “We’re super excited to have Joe join the team. He brings some excellent experience and heavyweight creativity to the table. I can’t wait to see what he can do.”

 Commenting on his new role at Born Social, Joe says: “I’m buzzed to be joining the exciting young team at Born Social. Many agencies claim to get social but at Born, you can really feel it’s embedded in the agency’s DNA. I can’t wait to get cracking.”

News

Fluent Commerce appoints Alex Pusenjak as Global Head of People

Fluent Commerce, the global distributed order management platform for omni-channel retail, has announced that Alex Pusenjak has joined the team as Global Head of People. Pusenjak will be focused on building and rolling out a robust People strategy for the next phase of the company’s growth.

Fluent Commerce is headquartered in Sydney but has growing teams in Europe and North America. The company works with global and regional brands such as JD Sports, GrandVision, Aldo, eBay, Target and Marks & Spencer.

In his most recent role, Pusenjak oversaw the human resources function across Asia Pacific for Datto, a leading provider of cloud-based software and security solutions purpose-built for delivery by managed service providers.

Pusenjak says he is excited about the opportunity to join the Fluent Commerce team: “I’m thrilled to be joining Fluent Commerce at a time of rapid growth. Our greatest asset is our phenomenal global workforce and I’m looking forward to helping them further establish Fluent as the leading cloud-based order management provider in the Asia Pacific region, as well as our growth markets in EMEA and North America for years to come.”

Pusenjak brings over 10 years of human resources leadership experience to his new role at Fluent Commerce where his focus will be to create a world-class onboarding experience, develop a career model framework across the business and implement a competitive global benefits program. 

“We’ve worked hard to build a great culture here at Fluent Commerce, but now is the time to invest in a People Strategy that includes employee engagement and enablement, career development and diversity equality and inclusion, to support us as we scale. Alex brings an incredible amount of people experience to Fluent Commerce, and his breadth of knowledge and infectious enthusiasm will help guide our growth and enrich our company culture,” said Graham Jackson, CEO, Fluent Commerce.

In 2019 Fluent Commerce raised $33 million in a Series B fund round from U.S. growth equity firm Arrowroot Capital. Fluent Commerce has 15 new starters joining the team in May and is actively hiring for 20 further roles. For more details please visit: https://fluentcommerce.com/careers/ 

News

AML Group announce new creative director: Hugo Bone joins AML from The Gate

Independent creative agency, AML Group, has today announced the appointment of Hugo Bone to the role of Creative Director.

Hugo joins from The Gate where, as Creative Director he produced notable campaigns for, among others, Chiltern Railway; The Electoral Commission and Lives Not Knives. Prior to the Gate Hugo spent time at a number of leading agencies with extended tenures at both BBH and VCCP creating campaigns for O2, Audi and Virgin Media – including the celebrated ‘Introducing the Bolt Family’ with sprint legend Usain Bolt in multiple guises.

Commenting on the decision to hire Hugo, Ian Henderson, AML Group CEO says: “The role of Creative Director is critical to our continued growth as an independent agency – and a difficult hire to get right. Hugo, however, made it an easy process. A creative through-and-through and with a hugely impressive track record he has all the attributes to push our creative offer to the next level. He also understands who we are and our problem-solving ethos of delivering ‘simple ideas for a complicated world’.”

AML work across a number of sectors including financial services, tech and government with clients including: BNP Paribas, UK Government and Vanguard – one of the world’s largest investment companies.

Commenting on his new role, Hugo says: “AML excel working with clients in complex sectors and I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with a talented team to deliver brave, distinctive work. As well as being lovely people, the management team all share an infectious ambition both for the business and the clients – and I’m looking forward to being  part of AML’s continued and  future success.”

News

JDO goes from strength to strength with a round of key appointments

JDO announces a round of key appointments including Damian Hughes as Lead CGI Artist – Image and Motion. In this role, Damian will be instrumental in driving the global brand agency’s burgeoning brand animation and visualisation offering.

Damian is a seasoned creative with extensive expertise and experience as a CGI artist, art director and visualiser. He has sharpened his skills at agencies such as McCann Erickson, Wellcom Worldwide and AMVBBDO. In his previous position as Image Creation Director at Design Bridge, he led a team of 3D digital artists and animators in the creation of high-end CGI, illustrations and films for such notable brands as Diageo, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser.

“We’ve always been big believers in the power of animation and film to tell brand stories and deliver lasting impact in the market,” comments Fiona Florence, Managing Director at JDO. “With Damian’s amazing talents on board, we are strengthening our creative partnerships with our clients around the world providing not only stunning brand design but also beautifully crafted imagery, attention-grabbing animations and inspiring brand films.”

On his appointment, Damian comments, “JDO has a strong reputation for brave, beautiful creative work and I am very excited about working with the team to enhance and evolve its brand animation department to keep the pace in this constantly changing industry. With the brilliant projects on the table, I’m already hard at work.”

JDO are also welcoming Justine Guicherd and Jess Fox to their client service team, further strengthening the agency’s delivery of world-class creativity to their portfolio of global clients.

Justine joins as Senior Client Director, bringing extensive international experience working with prominent beauty brands such as Revlon and Mustela as well as with notable global brands Diageo, Nestlé and GSK. Prior to her JDO appointment, Justine worked at Elmwood London and Force Majeure NYC.

Jess, who joins as Senior Account Manager, previously worked at JKR and Butterfly Cannon and brings robust FMCG and spirits experience.

Peter Droy, Head of Client Service at JDO comments, “Justine and Jess are both high-calibre professionals who understand strategic challenges and know how to forge strong relationships. They are fantastic assets to our expanding team as we build on our reputation as a leading branding agency.”