Performance marketing people: Former Direct Line CMO joins tech start-up and KFC replaces its outgoing CMO...for now

Former CMO of Direct Line, Mark Evans, has joined the Growth Board of tech start-up Studiospace – a matchmaking platform which connects independent agencies with brands. An industry veteran, Evans is also a Non-Executive Director at The Marketing Society and is working as an Independent Advisor for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Industry heavyweight Pierre Naggar has joined advertising resource management software MINT as Director of Sales to lead its UK expansion. Naggar joins MINT with over 25 years of experience in the digital advertising and marketing industry. Prior to the new role he was SVP of Global Demand at self-serve advertising platform, AdsWizz.

As reported in our sister publication Campaign, following the departure of Jack Hinchliffe, KFC has promoted Jenny Packwood to interim Chief Marketing Officer. Packwood will take on the duties of CMO while maintaining her current responsibilities as Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer. She has been with KFC for 14 years and will work in the dual role until a permanent replacement for Hinchliffe is found.

GumGum, a global digital advertising platform is expanding its presence in the German market, making two appointments to help grow clientele in the region. Kalina Kehayova has joined as Digital Executive and Larissa Jürges is on board as Programmatic Solutions Manager. Kehayova will be based out of Düsseldorf and previously worked as Campaign Manager at OMD. Jürges, previously an Account Manager at Teads, will work from Hamburg.

Digital advertising platform Ozone has hired Stephen Windegaard to the new position of Programmatic Sales Lead. Windergard gained experience in premium publishing during a near five-year stint at Future, where he worked as the Commercial Group Head – Programmatic for EMEA and LATAM across the company’s portfolio of tech, gaming, music, film, football, home, creative, cycling and B2B titles. Prior to this, he spent a decade at Haymarket Media, working across several titles.

IPG Mediabrands’ Reprise has hired Jason Cotrina-Vasquez as its Global Head of Social. Joining after spending a little more than a year working as Head of Paid Social, Biddable Media with ad agency Spark Foundry, Cotrina-Vasquez will lead social strategy and a team of craft specialists at Reprise.

Global technology company Brand Metrics has appointed Agnes Asplund Schmidt to the role of Customer Success Manager to bolster its client services team. Asplund Schmidt has worked in customer success management for over six years across PR, finance and technology, spending five of those with PR and communications firm Mynewsdesk.

As reported in our sister publication Campaign, following its official launch in January, EssenceMediacom has made its first senior management appointment in the UK, hiring Richard Kirk. Formerly Zenith’s Chief Strategy Officer, he will adopt the same role at EssenceMediacom. Prior to Zenith, Kirk spent a little over two years with Amazon as a brand strategist.

In the wake of Kirk’s departure, Zenith has announced that Richard Clay has been promoted to Head of Strategy, becoming Kirk’s successor after spending 12 years in planning and strategy roles with Zenith, most recently leading strategy for some of their larger clients including Lloyd’s Bank Group and RVU.

Global experience design company Imagination has bolstered its leadership team in the US with new MD and ECD appointments. Sascha Uzzell has joined as Managing Director of the company’s New York and Houston offices and Jiri Bures will become the Executive Creative Director for both locations.

Uzzell possesses 20 years of experience leading creative accounts and agencies; most recently she worked with advertising company BBDO. Bures’ promotion comes after 13 years with Imagination and will see him relocate from itsLondon office.

Azerion, a digital entertainment and media platform, has announced two new strategic hires to its Manchester team, as part of the company’s expanding Northern footprint. Joining the company is Dave Mullan and Emma Hart, both as Account Managers.

Mullan is joining from Invibes Advertising where he worked as Digital Sales Manager. Prior to this, he was Client Executive at Channel 4. Hart has more than five years of industry experience, most recently working at Havas Lynx Group as a Media Buyer.