Five strategists have joined DDB New York: Tim Polder as director of content strategy; Chiara Martini as director of social strategy; Neil Simpson as associate planning director; Amanda Moreno as social strategist; and Claudia Steer as group strategy director. They will report to DDB NY’s chief strategy officer Stuart Hazlewood.

Originally from the Netherlands, Polder joins DDB NY from London and Amsterdam where he distinguished himself as a digital strategist at Saatchi & Saatchi, Cheil Worldwide, at his own consultancy firm Badabiem Badaboem, and at Buutvrij for life, the “only whiplash-marketing agency in the world.” For the past ten years, Polder has worked on various creative campaigns across branded content, digital, service and product development, and experiential marketing, including the launch of a range of Samsung products such as the tech giant’s flagship phones and TV products, as well as Samsung’s ‘Avengers – Age of Ultron’ and Rugby partnerships. He has also worked with Playth1ng, a design and innovation studio, to craft a digital tool called “Clear.as” that allows for better collaboration at creative organizations.

Martini moved from Sao Paulo to New York and in her new role at DDB will be responsible for social and content strategy for a number of key accounts like Clean&Clear, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Huawei, Cotton, Qualcomm, State Farm and others.

Native to Scotland, Simpson previously served as a brand strategist at DDB in London, where he worked for major pharmaceutical brands including Excedrin and OneTouch. Prior to his time at DDB, Simpson spent three years as a planner at freuds, a London-based full-service communications and public relations firm, managing global brands including Pepsi Max, Quaker Oats, Guinness, Asda and Mars.

Moreno joins DDB New York from R/GA, where she focused on digital and social-first initiatives for beauty giant L’Oreal Paris, and she’s also worked closely with Intermix, Calypso St. Barth and other names within the fashion and beauty space.

Steer had been at Leo Burnett in Chicago. She most recently led the strategy for McDonald’s US brand initiatives, and played a key role on the team that helped grow the overall business for the agency over the past few years. She also worked on Sprint and the agency pro-bono client, the Greater Chicago Food Depository. During her Burnett tenure, she championed several diversity initiatives, including No.2.66 and Blank Canvs, aimed at bringing nontraditional talent into advertising.