WPP hires chief client officer

WPP appointed Jane Geraghty as chief client officer. Geraghty most recently served as the CEO of WPP-owned brand and design consultancy Landor & Fitch.  Geraghty, who held the chief executive role since 2017, had been with Landor & Fitch for 12 years.

Geraghty succeeds Lindsay Pattison, who was recently named WPP’s global chief people officer. Geraghty will assume the role in January.

Landor & Fitch also appointed Christian Schroeder to the newly created role of global president. He has over 30 years of experience and most recently served as part of WPP’s global client leaders team.

Pixly opens podcast division

Influencer marketing firm Pixly added a podcast department to bring its insights-based matchmaking tools and historical performance metrics to the form of media. The company already connects brands to consumers across platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitch. 

NordVPN, a prominent partner to YouTube creators, is one of the first brands to use the new service. Pixly partnered the virtual private network company with podcasts such as The MacRumors Show, which discusses technology industry breaking news, and GeniusBrain, a podcast described as “about anything and everything.”

Nick Andrews, who joined Pixly in June as an influencer marketing campaign manager, will run the division.

Check out more influencer and creator news here

Do the chicken dance

Shake Shack wants to get people dancing on game day over its Chicken Shack sandwich. Dubbed a “sleeper in the chicken sandwich game” by the fast food chain, the Chicken Shack is a classic crispy, white-meat chicken breast over lettuce, pickles and buttermilk herb mayo on a toasted potato bun. And fans have a chance to score one for free. 

Launched in collaboration with Preacher, Shake Shack is promising free Chicken Shack sandwiches to fans nationwide from Nov. 12-19—as long as any NFL player celebrates a touchdown this Sunday with a Chicken Dance. Shake Shack announced the promotion online, and fans are already tagging their favorite players asking them to shake their tail feathers. 

To redeem, fans just need to wait for one clucking NFL player, and a promo code, before heading to their nearest participating Shake Shake or order online. 

Response Media bolsters C-suite

Digital marketing agency Response Media appointed multiple C-suite executives amid a year of growth. 

Alvin Glay, formerly VP of growth and analytics, was named chief strategy officer, leading the data science and analytics, media and strategy departments. Ami Sirlin was hired from Magnet Global Network as chief client officer, and Marty Kahnle joined from Atlanta-based Upside to become chief marketing officer. All are new posts.

These hires come as the agency has seen substantial growth, including expanding its remit with Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition, which named Response Media its media agency of record for MJN’s U.S. medical marketing. 

Just Briefly 

Mother New York hired an executive creative director. Gustavo Dorietto takes on the the newly created role after most recently serving as a VP, group creative director at the Martin Agency. Mother also hired six other new creatives as part of an expansion of the department.

PMG hired Amy Rappo and Scott Marsden as VPs of client strategy. Rappo has worked in a variety of leadership strategy roles over her nearly 25-year career, including 10 years at GroupM and three years at Publicis as client lead for the AB InBev account. Marsden joins from Quigley, where he was president of media and analytics. He was also head of global media, performance and CRM at Spotify. 

Ogilvy Paris brought on creative directors Yann-Gael Cobigo and Thibault Michal. The duo began their careers in Paris before moving to London 10 years ago. They have worked at BBH, VML London and were most recently creative directors at Harbour Collective. 

Hill Holliday appointed Adam Vohlidka to the new role of executive VP, social creative and digital content, to develop the agency’s Social Force. Vohlidka has held director roles at Translation, Havas, Cutwater, and Wieden+Kennedy. He most recently was group creative director at Hero Collective.