Iris expands strategy unit with three new senior hires
Joining Iris are Rory Natkiel, Raj Thambirajah, and Ally Waring.
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Multi-specialist creative network Iris, has made a raft of new hires as the agency continues to expand and enhance its strategic offering.
These are the first key hires since Chris Whitson and Rich Edwards took over leading the strategy department at the agency last October.
Rory Natkiel joins as Strategy Director on KFC and adidas. Rory joins from Archetype, where he defined strategies across content, SEO, PR and social for brand such as Coca-Cola, Vimeo and American Express.
Raj Thambirajah also joins as Strategy Director to lead the strategy on Starbucks - Iris is currently Starbucks’ lead strategic and creative agency across EMEA. Raj joins from Publicis, where he led the strategy team across all Nestlé brands.
Finally, Ally Waring joins as a Senior Strategist, joining the Suzuki team from Rapp where she led the PayPal account and has experience working with brands such as NIVEA, Nestlé, and Virgin Media. Iris was recently named Suzuki’s lead strategy and creative agency, just one year after winning the digital and social account from Red Brick Road.
Chris Whitson, Executive Strategic Director for Iris London, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Rory, Raj, and Ally to the team. They have all learnt their craft in a variety of different types of agencies and we love the diversity that brings to the team. They are all brilliantly talented creative thinkers and will be a fundamental part of the future success of Iris”.
Rich Edwards, Executive Strategy Director, adds: “From the beginning, we were clear we wanted to build a team that has the breadth of experience and specialist skills to allow us to bring a fresh perspective to any strategic challenge. It’s by bringing together strategists who think differently that we are able to drive our clients’ businesses forward.”
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Alongside these new appointments, Flo Evans, who joined the agency as a Junior Planner, has been promoted to Senior Strategist. Flo works across the Starbucks, adidas and Haven accounts. Rich Edwards commented: “Flo’s a super-smart, progressive strategist and her passion for helping drive brands forward over the last few years has been awesome. It’s been great to see her go from strength to strength in the team here at Iris.”
The news comes as Iris London announced its most successful financial year to date in April, thanks to a healthy streak of new business and existing client wins over the past 12 months.
