TBWA\Media Arts Lab, better known as Apple's dedicated global advertising agency, announced several new executive level hires this week.
The Omnicom unit hired Rebecca Stambanis as chief strategy officer, Jorge Calleja as executive creative director and Kaitlyn Wilkins as executive director of integration.
Over the past two years, MAL has expanded its global network to seven offices serving 26 global markets and made several key hires under the leadership of president Erica Hoholick and chief creative officer Duncan Milner.
"We are entering an exciting time at Media Arts Lab," said Holohick. "Over the last two years we have worked on bringing together the best and brightest in the industry for our client. We are marrying the knowledge and heritage from working on Apple for nearly 30 years with new perspectives and incredible talent."
Stambanis most recently served as global group strategy director on the Nike business at Wieden + Kennedy. An agency veteran who previously held top planning and strategic roles at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Clemenger BBDO, she will lead the global MAL planning team in defining its long-term strategy for Apple's advertising business.
Holohick told Adweek, "The body of work Rebecca has led strategically along with her experience, insight and global point of view make her a great fit for this role, and Jorge brings innovative, fresh thinking that we're eager to build on as a network."
Calleja joins MAL from The Martin Agency, where he held the executive creative director title and led campaigns for Stoli, Tic Tac and Mondelez. He has also served as creative/art director at W+K, GS&P and Sid Lee. Wilkins comes from the client side of the marketing business. Over the last three years, she was global director of social media and subsequently brand/product marketing at Burberry, where she was responsible for integrating many of the London-based fashion giant's marketing campaigns.
Today's announcement follows the February departures of MAL chief strategy officer Marc-Antoine Jarry and founding partner/executive creative director Eric Grunbaum, as reported by Adweek's AgencySpy blog.
TBWA\MAL's most recent work for Apple was an iPhone spot pairing Siri with Cookie Monster and Jim Croce.