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| Matt Buchanan |
Burson promotes chief operating officer EMEA Matt Buchanan to global chief social and Influence officer, a newly created role. Before joining Burson in 2025, Buchanan was global & EMEA president at Ogilvy PR. He has also served as managing director at Havas-owned One Green Bean, where he launched the agency’s UK business. Clients Buchanan has worked with include The Coca-Cola Company, L’Oréal, Google, TJX Europe and Pfizer. In his new role, he will be responsible for building on the agency’s foundation in social and influence in the U.S. and scaling the capability globally. “Matt’s considerable experience in building modern, earned-first communication campaigns and driving results for clients across PR, social and influence make him the right choice to ensure that our clients’ narratives resonate,” said Burson CEO Corey duBrowa. In addition, Olly Gosling, who was most recently VP strategy, media & production at London-based ad agency Influencer, has joined the firm as head of social and influence, EMEA. He also has held key roles at The Walt Disney Company, Maker Studios and MediaCom.
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| Brendan McCarthy |
Seedtag, a “global neuro-contextual advertising company,” brings on former Edelman SVP, corporate and PA Brendan McCarthy as chief marketing & communications officer. McCarthy comes to Seedtag from commerce media company Criteo, where he was CMO. Before that, he was SVP, head of communications & product marketing at Nielsen Global Media. At Seedtag, McCarthy will oversee the company’s global marketing and communications strategy, supporting its international expansion while driving the evolution of privacy-first, neuro-contextual advertising across the open web and CTV. "Brendan brings the rare ability to turn vision into momentum and innovation into impact. As we expand Liz (the company’s proprietary AI platorm) and our neuro-contextual platform globally, his leadership will help brands connect with audiences in more meaningful, measurable ways,” said Seedtag CEO Brian Gleason.
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| Lauren Easton |
The Associated Press uos Lauren Easton to SVP and chief communications officer. Easton has been with the AP since 2015, most recently serving as VP of global communications. She began her career as a broadcast journalist at WLIX-TV in Lansing, MI. In her new post, she is responsible for all of the AP’s strategic communications, including crisis communications, reputation management, executive communications, media relations, internal communications, brand and corporate archives. “Over the past 10 years, Lauren has been a steady, trusted leader through moments of transformation, crisis and growth, always keeping the integrity of the AP brand front and center,” said AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham.
Nick Mammano, who was president/CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, has rejoined Mercury Public Affairs as a managing director in its Saddle Brook office.
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.
