People on the Move

Creative agency Camp + King has hired Ciaran Rogers as director of strategy.
 
Rogers began his New York advertising career working on the global management of McCann Erickson’s Priceless campaign for MasterCard in 2004. A few years in, he jumped to planning and added Wendy’s and MLB to his portfolio and acquired a deep and fundamental understanding of the relationship between cultural emotions and consumer purchase behavior. Next, he moved to Hanft Raboy and Partners, where he led strategic development for a series of IAC businesses; then he moved to the boutique Night Agency, where he was a principal and head planner.
 
But, the big-agency life soon beckoned: Rogers left to run planning on Lysol and Ritz Crackers at Euro RSCG in 2010. His work on these brands led to an integrated planning process for all of Reckitt Benckiser’s brands. He followed this stint with freelancing gigs at agencies Razorfish and Tribal DDB—creating a neuro-testing lab—and a role as strategy director at ad agency KBS, where he headed planning efforts for investment company Vanguard.

Publicis Seattle has hired Jason Tarantino as EVP, executive strategy director. He will work on Publicis Seattle’s T-Mobile business and report directly to EVP, managing partner Melissa Nelson.
 
In this new role for the agency, Tarantino will be responsible for directing strategy for the T-Mobile business, leading a team of seven strategy executives to identify and execute on the best decisions for the brand. 
 
Tarantino’s addition to the T-Mobile team comes as Publicis Seattle is bolstering its senior leadership on the business by adding a number of new strategy executives. Most recently, Publicis Seattle welcomed Lisa Baldini as communications strategy director, who will work closely with Tarantino.
 
Before joining Publicis Seattle, Tarantino served as VP, planning director at RPA where he handled traditional, digital, social, and content strategy for Intuit’s QuickBooks and Apartments.com. Other agency experience includes stints at R/GA and Wieden+Kennedy, where he worked across a number of accounts, including Verizon, Levi’s, Electronic Arts and Target.
 
Tarantino has been honored with a number of awards including a Clio for working on Electronic Arts’ “Dante’s Inferno,” a Jay Chiat Award for Research Innovation for his work on Nike ID, and both a Cannes Silver Lion and Webby for his work with Verizon while at R/GA.
 
Before working in the advertising industry, Tarantino was commissioned by MIT to develop and direct an interactive theater piece that played across the Gertrude Stein Repertory Theater, MIT’s List Center for the Visual Arts and the internet using experimental technology developed by Bell Labs.

Creative agency MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER has hired David Gonzales as director of strategy. With a background in account strategy for agencies such as Publicis, Venables Bell & Partners, Deutsch LA, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, and Droga5, Gonzales has worked with a host of brands including Apple, Audi, T-Mobile, Google, Motorola, Toyota, and American Express.

Most recently a freelancer working in-house with Facebook’s internal agency “The Factory,” Gonzales also served as group strategy director at Droga5.  There he oversaw strategy for Motorola and helped pitch and win the launch assignment for Toyota’s first ever hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, Mirai, culminating in the award-winning “Fueled by Everything” campaign.

When it comes to brands, Gonzales believes they should focus more on defining and working from their purpose than from vapid mission statements. “Purpose,” he said, “is the good fight, the joyful work. When we can help brands solve that, everything else tends to fall into place.”

ORC International, part of Engine Group, announced the appointment of Alina Díaz as sr. VP for Cassandra, a provider of youth insights and emerging trends for the last 20 years. She will be reporting to Costas Pavlides, managing director at ORC.
 
Based in the company’s New York headquarters, Díaz will be responsible for overseeing the Cassandra business, driving revenue growth, developing new programs designed to unlock business opportunities for clients, and maintaining strong customer relationships. Diaz will lead product strategy and content output for the company’s quarterly insight reports, client strategy sessions and daily newsletters--all focused on today’s modern youth and their broader cultural and economic influence. Additionally, Díaz will work closely with Cassandra’s parent company, Engine Group, to partner on internal and client-related projects across multiple agencies.
 
Díaz joins Cassandra from Blue Flame Marketing Agency--a Sean “Diddy” Combs company--where, as VP of consumer marketing, she was responsible for brand growth by developing marketing plans, media and experiential strategies for CÎROC Ultra Premium Vodka and DeLeón Tequila. Prior to joining Blue Flame Marketing, Díaz served as the marketing innovation and new business director for Greencard Creative, a multi-cultural marketing agency, where she oversaw business development for the start-up. She also held previous positions at leading agencies, including a seven-year stint at BBDO where she managed multiple teams across Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
 
“Understanding youth is about seeing tomorrow, today,” said Díaz. “We give our Fortune 500 clients a look into the future so they can innovate ahead of their competition, adapt to emerging trends and implement marketing programs that impact their bottom line. As a former client, I understand how difficult it is for brands engaging with Millennials and Gen Z to keep up with a rapidly changing marketplace, and I am excited to be part of a talented team that is making a difference for brands and consumers alike.”
 
In addition to her agency work, Díaz also held a senior position with The Partnership for a Drug-Free America leading multicultural youth programs. Throughout her career she has worked with such brands as Gillette, Bayer Corporation, Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Frito-Lay.