The mood at Party City was far from festive Friday, as CNN reported that the retailer will abruptly shut down its stores and let all employees go at the end of the day, ending a run of nearly 40 years. Party City specialized in items such as balloons, Halloween costumes, and party goods, and CNN...
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is bringing on PHD exec Katie Klein as chief investment officer, it shared with ADWEEK. Klein previously held the same role at subsidiary PHD USA. In her three years there, she built an integrated investment arm serving clients including Burger King, Delta Airlines, Diageo, Priceline, Uber, and Volkswagen Group. Prior to...
2024 saw some major chief marketing officer (CMO) moves. While brands including Starbucks and The Knot Worldwide promoted former marketers to the chief executive officer (CEO) office, others like Gap and Adobe finally filled their vacant CMO positions. Other advertisers such as Dove and Major League Baseball (MLB) saw long-time marketing bosses exit, where OpenAI...
Helene Dick has joined independent creative agency Special US as head of strategy, the agency shared with ADWEEK. She will report to Special Group CEO Kelsey Hodgkin. Dick is a seasoned agency executive, having spent more than two years prior at TBWA\Media Arts Lab as executive director of strategy for the Apple account, where she...
Former IPG and Amazon Ads exec Amy Armstrong will join Publicis Groupe as chief revenue officer, a new role at the holding company, on March 1. Armstrong joins from Amazon Ads, where she was director of global customer development since June 2022, following five years as CEO of IPG Mediabrands' Initiative. Prior to that, she...
In this episode of the Marketing Vanguard podcast, Jenny Rooney connects with Linda Boff, CEO of Said Differently, and Tony Wells, a former marketer at Verizon, for a compelling discussion about how CMOs can build successful board careers. This special episode comes to you live from Brandweek 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. Our guests share invaluable...
In 2024, chief marketing officers (CMOs) wore many hats as their remit continued to evolve. For some, this expanded scope laddered up to a promotion to the corner office. Over the last 12 months, senior marketers including Starbucks' Brady Brewer and GE's Linda Boff have made the leap from CMO to chief executive officer (CEO)....
Dick's Sporting Goods has a new executive to lead its retail media network. David Young has joined Dick's as a vice president to oversee the ad business. The retailer launched its retail media network, Dick's Media Network, in 2022. He brings more than 20 years of experience in managing media and ad networks, most recently...
This month, The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC) got a new CEO--but it seems like there won't be much of an adjustment period. Susan Howe stepped into the chief executive role at the communications agency on Dec. 2, and since joining nearly 29 years ago, she has held successive leadership roles running the gamut from regional...
Asian-fusion restaurant chain P.F. Chang's has appointed Sonika Patel as its new chief marketing officer, it announced today (Dec. 17). As CMO, Patel fills a position that has been vacant since Tana Davila left in 2022. She will lead P.F. Chang's global marketing strategy, executing a strategic vision around brand loyalty and customer engagement in...
The maxim that "all press is good press" was put to the test this week at Indian beauty startup YesMadam, which is dealing with the fallout from campaign that used a false layoff notice to shed light on workplace stress. According to several reports, employees at the company completed an internal wellness survey and then...
Amidst the news of Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group's (IPG) merger, IPG agency Deutsch announced it is promoting four department leaders to its C-suite. Ivan Perez-Armendariz will become chief digital officer; Heide Peper Hays will become chief data and intelligence officer; Diego de la Maza will become chief production officer; and Lauren Tetuan will become...
IPG Mediabrands plans to lay off 103 people on Jan. 2., according to a WARN notice filed in the state of California. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies with 100 or more employees to provide notifications of facility closures or mass layoffs 60 calendar days in advance. IPG Mediabrands filed the WARN...
WPP has named former IPG's McCann Worldgroup head of AI Elav Horwitz as its new evp and global head of strategic partnerships and solutions. Horwitz brings nearly nine years of experience at McCann, where she served as evp, global head of applied innovation and generative AI, integrating AI into creative workflows, as well as working...
Major League Baseball's chief marketing officer Karin Timpione is leaving her role at the end of this year, both she and MLB confirmed to ADWEEK. She has yet to announce her next move. Timpone made the initial announcement on her LinkedIn page. "Thanks [to] my league and club colleagues for many seasons of excitement --...
Publicis Groupe is taking boutique agency network LePub global, including its initial foray into the U.S. LePub will add to its presence in Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Milan, Mexico City, Rome, Sao Paulo, and Singapore, starting with its first U.S. hub in New York. Offices in Bogota, Dubai, and London will follow in 2025. Barilla and Heineken...
BetMGM announced today that it has appointed Casey Hurbis as its chief marketing officer. Hurbis is the sports betting brand's first CMO since 2020. He will report to chief revenue officer Matt Prevost, who served as CMO prior to becoming the company's CRO. The new CMO brings over 30 years of consumer marketing experience to...
Nadja Bellan-White, who has been serving as CEO of creative agency M&C Saatchi SS+K since January, was promoted to CEO of M&C Saatchi North America Group. Prior to joining M&C Saatchi Group, Bellan-White spent three years as global chief marketing officer at Vice Media Group. She brings extensive agency experience, as well, with nine years...
Julia Collier is the new chief marketing officer for J.Crew, the brand's parent company, J.Crew Group, announced today. Collier joins from Skims, where she was most recently senior vice president of marketing. She spent more than four years at the Kim Kardashian-owned company, which she joined ahead of its launch in 2019. The hire comes...
Publicis Groupe is looking to ride the growth wave of its Publicis Connected Media unit--which includes its digital experience agencies, martech firm Epsilon, influencer marketing shop Influential, investment arm PMX and Publicis Media--with several executive moves, highlighted by the promotion of Dave Penski to lead all Connected Media operations. The aim of Publicis Connected Media...
