Digital People on the Move: April 2014 Roundup

Attracting talent is important for every business. And the competition for talent is even fiercer in the thriving digital marketing industry, as evidenced in talent battles this month.

Pinterest Taps Twitter Sales Leader Lisa Manowitz

Pinterest has hired Lisa Manowitz as the head of partnerships on the East Coast. In her new role, Manowitz will focus on expanding the company’s regional ad business partnerships.

She will work closely with regional leaders Tram Nguyen on the West Coast and Bill Watkins in Chicago. Mandowitz will be based in New York.

Most recently, she worked for Twitter, where she managed the company’s East Coast sales team as well. Prior to that, Manowitz worked with both agencies and brands, including Y&R, The Wall Street Journal Digital, Unilever, and Coca-Cola.

Google+ Chief Vic Gundotra Leaves Google After Eight Years

Vic Gundotra decided to leave Google after eight years as executive in charge of Google+.

Neither Google nor Gundotra himself disclosed the reason why he departed, and where he will go to. But one thing is for sure – Gundotra will be succeeded by David Besbris, Google vice president of engineering.

This move reportedly followed a series of product managers’ departures at Google.

Two Interim Roles at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The DMA has appointed Thomas Benton and Jane Berzan as interim chief executive (CEO)/chief operating officer (COO) and interim president, respectively. This transition follows the resignation of DMA president and CEO Linda A. Woolley.

Benton currently serves as the COO at DMA. In his role, he has been in charge of DMA’s strategic plan. He has also fortified important financial performance indicators and systems, as well as created a comprehensive staffing model to better serve DMA members.

Berzan currently serves as senior vice president of programs, marketing, and events at DMA. Since joining the association, she has been focused on developing and evaluating DMA events and educational programs, in order to reflect modern data-driven marketers’ needs and interests.

Mike Grehan Rejoins Acronym From Incisive Media

Search marketing agency Acronym named Mike Grehan chief marketing officer/managing director. In this new role, he will spearhead the agency’s marketing strategy.

Grehan departed from Acronym to Incisive Media in 2009, where he served as group publishing director of Interactive Marketing and publisher of Search Engine Watch and ClickZ, as well as the producer of Incisive Media’s international ClickZ Live Conference Series.

A veteran in the digital marketing industry, Grehan has written numerous books and white papers on search and Web information retrieval. Currently he’s working on his new book called From Search to Social: Marketing to the Connected Consumer.

Karl Heiselman Departs From Wolff Olins to Apple

Apple has hired brand consultancy Wolff Olins’ global CEO Karl Heiselman. According to Heiselman’s spokeswoman, he will take a marketing communications role at Apple next month.

Heiselman has been with Wolff Olins for 14 years, seven years as global CEO. He was a design contractor for Apple during Steve Jobs’ absence in the early 1990s. Ije Nwokorie, who most recently ran Wolff Olins’ London office, replaced Heiselman as the company’s new global CEO on April 17.

Twitter Taps Google Map Director Daniel Graf as VP of Consumer Product

Twitter has appointed Daniel Graf as its new vice president of consumer product. This move is consistent with Twitter’s mandate to be a mobile-first company.

A veteran in mobile apps, Graf most recently served as a director at Google where he was in charge of the Google Maps mobile product since 2012. Before that, he spent six years as CEO at online mobile and video platform Kyte.

Vik Kathuria to Join Razorfish From MediaCom

Digital agency Razorfish named Vik Kathuria global media chief. In his new role, Kathuria will lead the agency’s digital media strategy.

Most recently, Kathuria has been head of digital investment at media agency MediaCom since 2008. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of digital media for integrated communications agency OMD. He also held senior global marketing positions at Citigroup in New York and PepsiCo in Singapore. In his early career, Kathuria worked in investment banking and trading with Goldman Sachs in London.

Luis DeAnda to Lead TBWAChiatDay

Luis DeAnda will replace Carisa Bianchi, who served as president at TBWAChiatDay since 2005. This promotion comes three months after the agency named DeAnda general manager.

DeAnda joined TBWAChiatDay in 2002, where he ran the global Nissan account team in Tokyo. He further held several positions within the company, including chief operating officer of TBWAHakuhodo in 2009, and managing director international and network at TBWAMedia Art Lab in 2012.

Beth Steinberg Takes a Newly Created Role at BrightRoll

Programmatic video advertising company BrightRoll named Beth Steinberg vice president of people. In her new role, Steinberg will be in charge of external events to support the company’s most recent initiative, BrightWomen, a project aiming to encourage leadership and empowerment of women.

Before joining BrightRoll, Steinberg served as vice president of talent and organizational development at home solar company Sunrun. Previously, she worked at Facebook as the social network’s first vice president of human resources.

Dave Reed, New EMEA Managing Director at MediaMath

MediaMath has promoted Dave Reed as its managing director for EMEA. In this newly created role, Reed will work closely with MediaMath’s current European clients, as well as lead the team to develop new opportunities and partnerships for the company.

He has been with MediaMath for six years, where he most recently served as senior vice president of strategic solutions. With more than 10 years of experience in digital marketing, e-commerce, and software development, he has created technology and marketing solutions for Fortune 500 marketers. He also founded his own software development firm Xonos.

Former AOL Europe CEO Kate Burns Joins SHIFT

Marketing software company SHIFT has hired Kate Burns as managing director of its U.K./Europe operations. In her new role, Burns will focus on expanding SHIFT’s presence in Europe and promoting the company’s Open Marketing Cloud.

Most recently, she helped cross-device ad targeting start-up Drawbridge set up its EMEA operations. Before that, she managed AOL’s Europe operation. Prior to AOL, she worked for Google, where she built the company’s European operation from scratch.

David Jacob Joins Playwire Board of Directors

Online video platform Playwire has selected David Jacob to join its board of directors.

Currently Jacob is senior vice president of publisher sales and business development at AOL networks. He has played a critical role in the growth of premium publisher platform and monetization partnerships across several AOL units.

A veteran in digital marketing, Jacob is a frequent speaker at industry events. He is also an active participant in trade organizations.