Arthur Andrew Yann III, head of public relations for the PR Society of America, passed away June 13 at the age of 48. The cause has not yet been made public.

One of Mr.Yann's biggest and "most challenging" tasks, according to a blog post by PRSA President-Chief Operating Officer William Murray, was a campaign surrounding membership dues. "After 10 years without an increase in member dues, we faced a stark choice: either cut benefits or raise dues," Mr. Murray wrote. "PRSA bylaws provide that our members vote through the Assembly to set the level of membership dues. Arthur, working closely with the Board, built and executed a campaign that clearly, steadily and calmly set forth the case for an increase, as well as the options facing us. The dues increase was approved on the first vote with minimal discussion -- members felt they had been well informed."

Mr. Yann joined the PRSA in 1999 as a volunteer and member of the PRSA Counselors Academy while working as a partner at Nichol & Co. Nine years later, he joined the industry trade group as VP of PR. There, he laid out a new vision for the group focused on ethics, the value of PR and diversity, Mr. Murray wrote. Prior to taking on the role at PRSA, Mr. Yann was a senior VP at HealthStar Public Relations.

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Just two weeks after bringing back Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley, Procter & Gamble Co. has identified frontrunners in the race to succeed him, giving a set of six executives in their early to mid 50s direct reports to Mr. Lafley, 65.

The moves don’t change P&G’s structure dramatically, as many of the executives largely retain their direct leadership. And none of the moves are promotions, exactly, since the executives remain group presidents.

P&G spokesman Paul Fox said the moves already were in the works under departing Chairman-CEO Bob McDonald and have the full support of Mr. Lafley and the board.

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Spongecell has announced the appointment of industry executive Byron Ellis to the position of chief technology officer. Mr. Ellis will bring an extensive background in statistics, data analysis and cloud computing to his new position. He was most recently the chief data scientist for LivePerson. He has also held various leadership positions with the online ad exchange AdBrite. Mr. Ellis holds a bachelor's of science degree in Cybernetics from UCLA and a PhD in statistics from Harvard University.

Kate Kochman has joined Bully Pulpit Interactive as the new chief operating officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for growing and taking on new talented individuals, new services and new clients. She has a very unique background of managing people, high-profile clients, and an understanding of the political paid-media world. Previously, Ms. Kochman worked as a veteran of Rahm Emanuel's team from the DCCC and then worked in the chief of staff's office for mayor. She has most recently served as the deputy director of paid media for the 2012 Barack Obama campaign.

Brad McCormick has joined Moroch Partners as its new chief digital officer. This is a new position at the agency. Mr. McCormick will raise the level of Moroch's digital innovation efforts and help integrate them within Moroch's existing initiatives. He brings more than 15 years of global communication experience focused on helping business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies create brand equity in the digital world. Most recently, Mr. McCormick was an executive vice president, managing director and senior digital strategist for Cohn & Wolfe. He studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his B.A. and creative advertising degree.

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Walmart has hired Dan Bartlett, the head of public-relations firm Hill & Knowlton's U.S. unit, as exec VP-corporate affairs.

Mr. Bartlett, 41, who also worked on former President George W. Bush's presidential and Texas gubernatorial campaigns, will start in late June, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart said today in a statement. He will oversee external communications, government relations, sustainability and the Walmart Foundation, the company said.

Mr. Bartlett replaces Leslie A. Dach, a former Democratic strategist, who announced he was leaving in March. Mr. Dach had previously held senior positions in Democratic presidential campaigns and handled work for the Clinton administration. He also was vice chairman of Edelman, a global public-relations firm.

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StyleHaul announced that Alison Kennedy has been appointed chief revenue officer. She will be responsible for managing and driving revenue both through sales and global product development, as well as developing an enhanced distribution platform. Ms. Kennedy brings more than 14 years of experience to the position. She was previously the senior vice president of global sales and product strategy at Glam Media Inc. Her latest launches include a social dashboard with a unique partnership measuring social content as well as Private Marketplace with Rubicon.

Kirk Chartier has been named chief marketing officer for online lender Enova International. he will oversee worldwide brand marketing and business strategy across the global lender's product lines. He will also be pursuing new-product opportunities in the U.S. Before joining Enova, Mr. Chartier was chief marketing officer at Chicago-based online broker OptionsXpress. Prior to that position, he worked as business strategy practice leader at Atlanta-based Zyman Group, now a part of MDC Partners. He received a master in business administration from Syracuse University, a bachelor's degree in economics from Holy Cross College, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Sue Davidson has joined the R/GA New York office as the senior VP-analytics and accountability. She will lead R/GA's global team of more than 40 digital, social- and advanced-analytics specialists focusing on turning data into actionable insights for R/GA's new and existing clients. At Market Evolution, Ms. Davidson was responsible for client delivery, operations and business development of the New York office. Prior to Marketing Evolution, she served as senior partner-director of insights planning at MediaCom. Ms. Davidson holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and an M.S. in behaviorial biology from the University of Maryland.

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My old boss, Stanley E. Cohen, Washington editor of Advertising Age for 42 years before retiring in 1987, died May 6 of renal failure. He was 93.

Stan joined Ad Age from Broadcasting Magazine in 1943, when Bureau Chief John Crichton (and later Ad Age editor) left to join the Navy. A recent graduate of Cornell and Columbia universities, the job interview he had for the Washington opening was the last he would ever have.

"Even though it was 30 years ago, I still vividly remember sitting aside Stan as he edited some of my first copy for Advertising Age with his rapid-fire, two-index-finger, hunt-and-peck-style typing on the keyboard," said David Snyder, now publisher at Crain's Chicago Business, who was hired by Stan in the D.C. bureau of Ad Age one week after his college graduation. "He took raw copy -- very raw -- and made it sing."

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Cory Berger has joined Pereira & O'Dell as managing director of the New York office. In his new role, Mr. Berger will manage the day-to-day operations of the office which currently serves clients like Corona and Reebok. Previously, he was the vice president of business development and client services for the digital and social agency Noise. Prior to Noise, Mr. Berger held position at various leading agencies including Mother New York, Momentum Worldwide, and Euro RSCG.

Vizeum has appointed Nadine Young as the communication agency's new chief strategy officer. In this newly created position, Ms. Young will be responsible for developing insight-based strategies and communication plans that enable brands to engage with their consumers in unconventional ways. Bringing over 15 years of experience at leading media agencies to the table, she most recently served as managing partner and group communications director at Mindshare. Before moving to the U.S. to join Mindshare, Ms. Young held a variety of positions at media agencies in the U.K., including ZenithOptimedia and AW Media.

MDC Partners has named Andre Coste the chief financial officer of the newly created MDC Partner Network. He will be responsible for partnering with the agency executive teams to drive efficient and effective growth and optimize financial management, as well as providing guidance and expertise as MDC agencies seek to expand internationally. He brings nearly 30 years of management experience to the job, the last 10 of which were spent at Publicis Group. Most recently, he served as global chief financial officer for Publicis.

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Adrienne Lofton Shaw has been announced as Dockers brand's vice president and chief marketing officer. In this role, she will be responsible for creating and leading the Dockers brand strategy and overseeing the company's global marketing efforts. Most recently, she was the senior marketing director at Under Armour, Inc., responsible for the global brand strategy for men's, women's, and youth products, as well as accessories. Prior to working at Under Armour, Inc., Ms. Lofton Shaw held marketing positions at Target Corporation, General Motors, Planworks/Starcom MediaVest and Gap Inc.

Veteran digital executive Jason Rapp joins Science Inc. as the managing director. In his new position, Mr. Rapp will find and develop new opportunities for the Science portfolio and offer strategic counsel to the firm and its existing portfolio companies as they mature and grow. He is also an executive, investor, and adviser to digital media and technology companies. Prior to joining Science Inc., he was the president and member of the board of directors of Maholo.com. From 2006-2009, he was a senior executive in Barry Diller's IAC corporation. Before IAC, Mr. Rapp was an executive at The New York Times Company, serving as associate general manager and head of operations for NYTimes.com.

Leesa Eichberger is the new chief marketing officer at Jenny Craig. She will be responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of the company's marketing initiatives. Ms. Eichberger brings 20 years of marketing-management experience to the company. She has previously held leadership roles at Vonage and Cingular wireless (now AT&T mobile), as well as various advertising agencies including Ogilvy & Mather.

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Dachis Group has announced Erin Mulligan Nelson as the company's new president. In her new role, Ms. Nelson will utilize her experience to lead Dachis Group's end-to-end go-to-market strategy and execution. She has previously worked as both a Fortune 50 C-level exec and a startup executive. Previously, Ms. Nelson served as senior VP-chief marketing officer of Dell. She had been responsible for Dell's global brand, communications, social media, Dell.com, agency and corporate social-responsibility strategies. Following her time at Dell, she was the chief marketing officer of Bazaarvoice.

JB Brokaw has joined Sociomantic as president of its North American operations. At Sociomantic, he will lead the charge on sales and revenue operations and further develop the company's advisory and services teams. The digital marketing veteran brings more than 15 years of experience in digital marketing and search technology. Previously, he was the former chief revenue officer and chief client officer of iProspect. While at iProspect, Mr. Brokaw was responsible for securing new business as well as the growth and development of the agency's 400-plus person client services organization. He also served on the Global Steering Board. Before iProspect, he was the executive director of market development at Mindset Media.

Amanda Peters has been appointed as head of social media for iCrossing. In her new role, Ms. Peters will be charged with driving increased engagement, visibility and loyalty for iCrossing's clients through social media. She will oversee the agency's rapidly growing social-media practice and manage a nationwide team of social strategists, content creators and community managers. She joined iCrossing in 2010. Prior to the company, she served as a writer and producer on WNBC's "Digital Life with Shelly Palmer" and worked at Advanced Media Ventures Group. Ms. Peters graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in mass communication.

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Coca-Cola has created a Global Sparkling Brand Center, combining its global brand and integrated marketing teams under the leadership of Wendy Clark.

According to an internal memo distributed to Coca-Cola employees by Joe Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial officer, the new structure will drive greater integration, simplicity and speed; increase the focus and impact of the team's work on a worldwide basis; and facilitate rapid scaling and spreading of programs and ideas.

"The new structure establishes a single point of leadership accountability, increases the holistic, end-to-end thinking for building global brands and integrates teams for added speed and responsiveness," Mr. Tripodi wrote in the memo. He noted that the Global Sparkling Brand Center is not unlike the Global Juice Center, which was established in 2008.

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Mario Diez has been named PointRoll's new chief executive officer. Mr. Diez has been at the center of creative, media, and measurement technologies, building sales for and leading some of the best-regarded and innovative technologies in digital media. He has previously held senior roles at The New York Times and PointRoll. He joined Centro in New York as VP-eastern sales. After Centro, as vice president for Datran Media, he launched Aperture, an analytics platform based on verified household data. This is a homecoming of sorts, as Mr. Diez opened the New York market for PointRoll in 2003, when the company was a 2-year-old startup.

WPP Digital's 24/7 Media appoints Christina Van Tassell as new chief financial officer. She will be responsible for the financial operations of 24/7Media and its two divisions, Real Media Group and Media Innovation Group. Ms. Van Tassell brings 20 years of global experience in finance, management, and private equity to the company. Prior to this position, she was the chief financial officer at Centurion holdings in New York. She also held senior roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers Transaction Services in New York and London, and PwC Global Capital Markets in Sweden. A graduate of Muhlenberg College, Ms. Van Tassell also holds a join MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School.

Ned Potter has joined RLM Finsbury as senior vice president. Mr. Potter will play a significant role in RLM Finsbury's growing science and technology practice. He had previously served as a science correspondent for ABC's "World News" and also reported for "Nightline," "Good Morning America" and the Discovery Channel's "Discovery News." He also contributed as an editor for ABCNews.com, expanding its digital-media footprint. Before joining ABC News, Mr. Potter was a correspondent at CBS News. He received a bachelor's degree at Princeton University, where he studied the history of science.

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SheKnows, a women's lifestyle media brand, welcomes Samantha Skey as its chief revenue officer. A digital-media industry leader with experience creating new online revenue, Ms. Skey joins SheKnows, helping the executive team expand the business and evolve its digital strategy. As CRO, she will focus on growing and monetizing the company's business by delivering innovative ways for the SheKnows community to consume and engage with its content. She will also work with advertisers to create and distribute meaningful custom content to SheKnows' audience. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Skey served as chief revenue officer of RecycleBank. She also held the position of chief marketing officer at Passenger and served in management positions at CNET.

Khurrum Malik has joined eXelate as the new chief marketing officer of online ad data and analytics provider. He will be responsible for global corporate and product marketing for eXelate's industry-leading smart data solutions. Mr. Malik brings more than 17 years of experience in analytics, mobile, and software industries. Previously, he served in leadership roles at Accenture and Microsoft. He also served as VP-marketing for comScore. He received his MBA from the Darden School of Business and his MS and BA from the University of Virginia.

Julie Bornstein was recently promoted to chief marketing and digital officer of Sephora Americas. For the past five years, Ms. Bornstein has served as Sephora's senior VP-digital and a member of the company's operating committee. In her new role, she will assume responsibility for brand and store marketing, public relations and creative. Prior to joining Sephora, Ms. Bornstein served as the general manager of Urban Outfitters Direct, where she led the growth of the web and catalog division into a highly productive direct business. She sits on the board of directors of TheFind.com and Stitchfix. She has her BA and MBA from Harvard University.

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