 Top (l-r): Gaona, Avila, Soriano, Cardona, Diaz. Bottom (l-r): Stern, Palacios, Teissonniere, Navarro |
BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe) has announced the appointment of nine market leaders in Latin America, all of whom have been drawn from the Burson-Marsteller organization. Alberto Diaz, who previously led the Chile market, will now be market leader in Mexico. Fernando Soriano, who had been director, brand communications in Chile, will now lead that market. The other seven had already been serving as market leaders in their respective markets: Guido Gaona in Argentina, Patricia Avila in Brazil, Hector Cardona in Colombia, Jonathan Stern in Miami, Carolina Palacios in Peru, Lynnette Teissonniere in Puerto Rico and Agustina Navarro in Uruguay. All of them report to Francisco Carvalho, president, Latin America, BCW. “This team has unmatched market knowledge, strong client relationships and deep commitment to talent, all of which is critical for our continued success in the region,” Carvalho said.
 Julie Matic |
DKC has appointed Julie Matic senior vice president, digital lead of HangarFour, the agency's full-service creative, digital content and experiential marketing unit. Matic joins from Cohn & Wolfe, where she was a senior VP, leading digital strategy for the consumer and multicultural practices as part of the agency’s global Digital Innovation Group. During her tenure, she put together campaigns for PANDORA Jewelry, Gillette, and Colgate-Palmolive’s brand portfolio. Before that, she held executive positions at Porter Novelli and Coyne PR. “Julie will play an integral role in growing our digital practice, managing digital strategy for client brands and connecting digital to all aspects of our clients’ businesses," said DKC president Sean Cassidy.
 Gary Ellison |
Crosby Marketing Communications has brought on Gary Ellison as a senior multimedia editor and Kelly Scruggs as a social media designer. Ellison comes to Crosby from Discovery Communications, where he spent six years as a producer/editor, creating promotions, digital and social media content for Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, American Heroes and Destination America. Earlier in his career, he was a camera operator and developed news segments and corporate videos for SKV Communications in Manchester, England. Scruggs joins Crosby from Merkle, where she was an art director, creating campaigns for such clients as USAA, Nationwide and Laser Spine Institute.
Seven Letter hires Allie Raffa, who was most recently White House correspondent for NBC News, as a senior director... Points of Light, an organization founded by President George H.W. Bush that is dedicated to volunteer service, names Jeff Zanelli as CMO... Frontieras North America, an energy and environmental technology company, appoints Nora Shepard as VP of communications.
Alcoa has named Emily Olson, who has more than 20 years of experience working in capital-intensive industries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, EVP & chief external affairs officer, effective April 6.
Longacre Square Partners has named Humza Vanderman partner and head of its London outpost as the financial communications firm expands into Europe.
FGS Global adds former Pfizer EVP and chief corporate affairs officer Sally Susman to its global executive board as an independent member, effective April 1... Codeword brings on Kim Baffi, who was previously Salesforce VP and creative director, as executive creative director... Amperity, an AI-powered customer data cloud, appoints Bridget Perry as CMO.
MOIA America, a Volkswagen Group of America subsidiary that develops and tests autonomous, all-electric ride-pooling vehicles, names Marcus Gamo head of U.S. communications... Continental Strategy brings on Francisco Petrirena as VP in its Miami office. Petrirena was previously chief of staff to former Miami city manager Art Noriega... MSQ Sport + Entertainment brings on Lauren Weil as EVP, Max Hirsch as VP of sponsorship, and Brooke Losee as VP.
