CHANGING PLACES: Paco Olavarrieta, Tyler Witkin, Doug Ray, Michael Epstein…

People change positions, get promoted or move to other companies. Portada is here to tell you about it.

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People change positions, get promoted or move to other companies. Portada is here to tell you about it.

(Looking for your next Career move? Check out Portada’s Career Board!)
Click here for previous Changing Places editions

paco_olavarrietaCreative leader Paco Olavarrieta has been named a new partner and Chief Creative Officer at independent agency d expósito & Partners, headquartered in NYC. In a joint announcement released in New York by Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman/CEO, and Jorge Ulla, Chief Ideation Officer, both founders of the agency launched eleven years ago, Olavarrieta is described as “a bold visionary with whom we share an instinct for constant renewal, an inspired game-changer with a proven record, and an entrepreneurial spirit, whose creativity has a winning zest to find the destination beyond.”
“Paco is here to ignite creative excitement in all our disciplines and to mine and expand the strategic vision for clients in an industry of accelerated and constant transformation,” the statement added. Olavarrieta —who prefers to be called Paco, aware of how difficult it is for those who don’t speak Spanish to pronounce his last name— had previously been at Dieste until December 2016. Prior to Dieste, he had a most notable career during which he had led his own creative shop, Olé. He also held the top creative post at The Vidal Partnership during its heyday, and worked at the award-winning Del Rivero Messianú (now ALMA DDB), where he had begun his U.S. career upon his arrival from Mexico, his country of origin.

tylerThe community  has elevated Tyler Witkin from Senior Strategic Planner to Director of Strategy. In this role, Witkin is charged with leading strategic planning for General Mills, BMW and Jim Bean’s tequila portfolio, including integrating consumer insights and research into brand stories. Prior to joining the community in 2015, Witkin was at Cavalry Agency in Chicago, most recently as Director of Strategic Planning. While there, she directed strategy for several of MillerCoors’ brands and its new product innovations pipeline. Before that, she was a Strategic Planner at FCB where she led development of strategy for Newell Rubbermaid brands including Sharpie, Paper Mate and Expo, as well as Valspar Paint and Kmart.

 

 

dougDentsu Aegis Network has promoted Carat U.S. CEO Doug Ray to President, Product and Innovation. Ray will be succeeded by Michael Epstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

michael-epsteinEpstein joined the agency in 2013 most recently serving as Carat’s president and chief client officer.

 

 

 

 

 

descargaTelemundo has been promoted Richard Borjas to the newly created position of Vice President, Production, where he will oversee the development and production of multiple programs for the network, including Un Nuevo Día and Suelta La Sopa. Borjas will continue to be based in Miami and report to Jesus Torres Viera, Executive Vice President, Entertainment.

 

 

 

 

0eb01e4Amy Armstrong has been appointed the first U.S. chief operating officer for IPG Mediabrands’ media agency Initiative, as part of a new operating structure. She was most recently U.S. president of another IPG media agency BPN. Armstrong will oversee all U.S. offices and the regional presidents from East Coast, Midwest and West Coast.

 

 

 

 

kristian-magelIn addition, current Initiative U.S. president, Kris Magel, will shift his role to East Coast president of the agency, according to an Ad Age report. Magel will continue to oversee some of the agency’s largest clients out of the New York office. 

 

 

 

 

 

perdueStephanie Perdue has been appointed chief marketing officer at TGI Fridays. She was most recently chief product marketing officer at Taco Bell, where she worked since 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerry Comstock was also named president and chief operating officer at TGIF. He is former CEO of Strategic Restaurants Corp., which owned 300 Burger King units

 

 

steve-nilsen_croppedBoyden, a global talent advisory and leadership solutions firm, announced that Steve Nilsen, has joined the firm as a Partner in its Atlanta office.Most recently, Nilsen was a partner with a national executive search firm, where he specialized in the placement of C-level executives in the consumer and healthcare sectors. Prior to his career in executive search, Nilsen served in a variety of management roles for The Coca-Cola Company in Bogotá, Oslo, London and Stockholm.

 

 

 

 

32a73aePaul Cohen is leaving PayPal to return to Visa almost after 10 years for global communications. He will report to Visa CMO Lynne Biggar. Cohen became VP of global corporate communications at PayPal in mid-2015.

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