Alex Smith promoted to head of operations, becomes part of U.K. management team
Anita Nair Osborne has joined Amplify, the global creative agency specialising in experience and culture, as head of content production, working with clients including Airbnb, Epic Games, Google, Lego, Nike, PlayStation and Prime Video. Headquartered in London, Amplify maintains hubs in Sydney and Los Angeles.
Joining from Engine (now 337) where she was head of production, Nair Osborne brings 20 years’ experience to her new role at Amplify. She has consistently produced cutting edge content, working at top UK agencies including Anomaly, Mother and BBH.
As Amplify builds on an expanding client portfolio and continues to grow its global creative content remits, Nair Osborne's role will see her expanding and delivering against the agency’s vision. Amplify’s recent work spans everything from Dr Marten’s ongoing "Tougher than You" content series to Mitsubishi’s latest TV commercial, and from Nike’s SNKRS Day eight-hour live broadcast to pioneering anamorphic CGI for the latest chapter of Fortnite. Notably, Amplify’s multi-channel production prowess was demonstrated with the highly awarded global "Play Has No Limits" for the launch of PlayStation 5, blurring the lines between experience, OOH and content across 24 global cities and landmarks, shot, edited and shared on social channels within six hours.
Jonathan Emmins, founder and global CEO at Amplify, said, "Anita was the standout from a really diverse and high standard of candidates. From her roots shooting music videos for the likes of So Solid Crew to leading 360 campaigns featuring Helen Mirren for L’Oreal, Anita’s extensive knowledge and experience with content production ensures our talented and expanding team has the guidance it needs. This will enable us to continue to take our clients on ever more exciting journeys and even more ambitious projects."
Alex Smith
In parallel, Alex Smith has been promoted to head of operations and joined the Amplify's U.K. management team. Smith will be responsible for London operations and play a key role in the continued expansion of the group and its global offices. Smith joined Amplify in 2019 as head of live, overseeing the management and execution of the agency’s output. Her previous roles include creative operations director, where she played an instrumental role in leading the operational set-up for Amplify's L.A. office in 2020.
Smith began her career working in theatre before spending over a decade working in brand experience and creative marketing for big-name clients, including AIG, Disney, Formula E, Hyundai and Netflix. Before moving into the operational management side of the business, Smith managed projects and teams at Jack Morton, HEART Productions as well as Amplify.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads โ essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More