Julian Porras has been appointed CEO of Omnicom Media Group Latin America. He will be based in the Miami office and begin his new role Nov. 1. Mr. Porras comes to OMD after 14 years at StarcomMediaVest, where he led regional new business, operations and multinational client service for Latin America. He has previously worked with advertisers such as McDonald's, Visa, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Kraft, P&G and Samsung.
Alexandra Lippin has been promoted from VP to senior VP of The Lippin Group. She will continue to oversee entertainment events, fashion and lifestyle-communications PR campaigns, representing U.S. clients such as actor Greg Grunberg, mobile-couponing app Yowza and lifestyle and fashion brands such as Jennifer Fisher Jewelry and Wyler Designs. Ms. Lippin co-heads a division of The Lippin Group called Brand2Hollywood, which merges branded product, entertainment industry events and the media to develop creative campaigns. She also works on special events including the People's Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards and ALMA Awards.
Gustavo de Mello has joined DDB Chicago in the new position of senior VP-group strategy director in charge of the State Farm account. Prior to joining DDB, Mr. de Mello was senior VP-director of strategic planning at Lapiz, the Hispanic marketing division of Leo Burnett. At Lapiz, he was lead strategist on six Proctor & Gamble brands, Allstate, Blackberry, GM and several other blue-chip accounts. Under his leadership, Lapiz won more Effies than any other Hispanic agency in the U.S.
Rainbow Media has promoted Danielle Pantages-Baker to VP-ad sales, western region, overseeing national sales accounts for AMC, WEtv and Wedding Central within the region's 13-state territory. Ms. Pantages-Baker joined Rainbow in 2007 as an account executive. Prior to joining the company, she was a senior account executive with Scripps Networks' western region, where she sold and negotiated national commercial time for HGTV, DIY, Great American Country, Scripps Custom Programming, Shop At Home, HGTV Pro and Scripps Online properties. Her 15 years in media also include sales positions at Discovery Communications, Fox Family Channel and Western International Media.
The Weather Channel Companies tapped Megan Rock as VP-partnership marketing and operations and Brittany Smith as VP-national accounts. Ms. Rock joins TWCC from Discovery Communications, where she served as VP-domestic distribution. She has also worked as a business consultant and in various sales and marketing positions for Turner Broadcasting, Fox Family Channel, Discovery Communications and CAMA (Comcast Spotlight). Ms. Smith was most recently VP-client service at Javelin Direct. Prior to that, she served as head of content acquisition for Virgin Media Television and as an affiliate sales executive for ESPN Classic Sport Ltd. in London. Both Ms. Rock and Ms. Smith will work out of TWCC's Atlanta headquarters.
ION Media Networks has named Yoav Shahar VP-West Coast network sales. Mr. Shahar comes to ION with over 15 years experience in cable sales both in New York and Los Angeles. He most recently served as an account executive with Turner for eight years, specifically representing TBS and TNT and its sports and entertainment properties. He has also represented networks and brands including Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Nike, T-Mobile and Microsoft.
