Fetch, the global mobile-first agency and part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has opened a Los Angeles office. After strong business growth at the New York and San Francisco offices, including adding Travelocity, GSN Games and Yelp to its client roster, the agency is expanding its leadership team by hiring Ruairi McGuckin to lead the new office as managing partner, West Coast.
McGuckin will oversee agency accounts for the Los Angeles-based client roster, including the recently won Hulu. He will report directly to Guillaume Lelait, EVP, U.S. managing director.
“LA is a natural progression for Fetch. We have several clients in this market and it offers a wealth of access to talent and technology innovation – a critical component to continuing to grow our US presence,” said Lelait. “Our expansion into LA also speaks our move towards delivering mobile-first strategies to the growing entertainment economy coming out of that region and we believe Ruairi’s experience will allow us to tap into this and many other facets of the market to further enhance overall North American offering.”
Formerly head of account strategy, mobile at Criteo, McGuckin led a team supporting more than 30 accounts, working with brands including Expedia, Walmart, Netshoes and Blizzard Games. Additionally, his team pioneered Criteo’s Mobile Partner Program, an SDK extension program that speeds up onboarding times for advertisers. At Fetch, he will focus on expanding the agency’s West Coast presence into new verticals, further developing local market strategy.
“Fetch’s expertise is strategically aligned with the challenges and opportunities mobile advertisers face in today’s increasingly fragmented marketplace,” said McGuckin. “LA is ripe with brands who take a mobile-first approach, but may need help figuring out the best place to invest time and resources.”
In addition to McGuckin’s appointment, the agency has made a series of senior hires across the US that will elevate Fetch’s mobile strategies and solutions to brands and advertisers. These hires include U.S. executive creative director Octavio Maron, head of programmatic Joshua Niederriter, and NY account director Natalie Robinson. Maron joins Fetch from Pontomobi (part of Dentsu Aegis Network Brazil), where he served as chief creative officer. Niederriter was previously at AKQA where he pioneered leveraging audience segmentation in search and launched their programmatic solution. Robinson will be the regional lead for Hotels.com North America, AOL and upcoming new business wins. Robinson joins Fetch from Essence, where she worked across a variety of Google products.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More