ESA member Ear to the Ground has announced the appointment of two senior hires, adding former OMD Global Digital Director, Carl Lawrence, and former JD Sports Social Lead, Dan Coultas.
Lawrence joins the independent creative agency as Digital and Social Director, having previously led digital and performance strategy campaigns focussed on programmatic, paid social, PPC. He brings more than 15 years’ experience, and has worked on partnerships for the likes of The Daimler Group, Renault, Nissan, Nestlé, Samsung and the NFL.
Coultas, meanwhile, will take up the role of Head of Social Media at Ear to the Ground, having spent five years as Social Lead at JD Sports. In that role, he managed an engaged social media following of over 10 million worldwide, whilst producing campaigns for the likes of Nike, adidas, New Balance and Under Armour.
The agency says its two new appointments are part of its commitment to enhance its Fan Intelligence offering – a model which led to wins with some major global brands in 2020, alongside continued growth with current clients including PlayStation, STATSports, Pernod Ricard, Arsenal, and New Balance.
Lawrence said:
Fan Intelligence is completely unique… even among global network agencies I’ve worked with, there’s nothing like it. My role here is to develop the team behind a world-class digital and social offering. The chance to do that for some of the biggest sport and culture brands was just too good to turn down.”
Coultas added:
“2020 was a year like no other. I now get to work as part of an incredible team and play a key role in how Fan Intelligence roles out across social-led strategies, for an amazing set of clients.”
Ear to the Ground’s Director of Fan Intelligence Owen Laverty said:
“These are game changing hires for the business. With every year that passes, culture is increasingly being shaped by the behaviours of audiences, so having more specialist expertise in the business is a no brainer. Our Fan Intelligence platform was created to get clients’ heads out of the boardroom and connect them with the thoughts, feelings and actions of audiences in an instant. With Carl and Dan now on board, they will play a crucial part in shaping our response to the ever changing digital landscape and prepare Fan Intelligence for its new phase of growth.”
Across 2020, Ear to the Ground has added New Balance, STATSports, Pernod Ricard and Therabody to its roster, and the agency says that expansion has resulted in a number of other hires across the business in additional roles across strategy, creative, digital and client services.
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