iProspect hires global MD and client president

IProspect has named Amy Watt global managing director and hired Cécile Berger as global client president.

Watt has been chief strategy officer at iProspect for the past 18 months and replaces Shenda Loughnane who became global client and brand president for Dentsu X in January.

Watt was appointed at the same time as Chris Worsley joined as group managing director. Worsley was poached by Wavemaker last year to become global performance lead.

Dentsu’s Grace Letley, head of strategy, and Libby Darley, head of planning, will take over Watt’s former responsibilities as CSO while her replacement is recruited.

Watt will report to Amanda Morrissey, global client and brand president and chief growth officer, media st iProspect, and be responsible for building iProspect’s integrated strategic services proposition and a globally consistent, connected agency brand and network. This includes leading people, processes, products and profit and loss across the agency to deliver excellence on a global scale, alongside owning senior client relationships and driving growth.

She has 18 years’ experience in media, and has held local, regional and global roles, including a four-year stint in the US, before returning to the UK in 2016 as global strategy client lead for Amazon. 

Watt said: “I am beyond thrilled to be joining the iProspect global team and working with our exceptional people around the world, who are operating at the leading edge of media to build brands that shape the future.”

Berger, meanwhile, has moved from WPP’s Paris office, where she has been global client lead for the Nutrition brands for the Coca-Cola Company for the past two years.

She will lead iProspect’s Paris team and work closely with Pierre Calmard, president and chief executive of Dentsu France, as well as the Dentsu team in France to help gain more international clients. Berger has also been tasked with leading iProspect’s account for luxury goods company Kering, which owns brands including Gucci, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent. 

She has expertise in multiple fields, including branding, media, CRM and data has been an asset in driving transformation for her clients. Her experience includes six years at WPP, including two years as its global client lead for Chanel, as well as two years as deputy managing director of Mindshare France.

Bergher said: “I am delighted to join Dentsu and work with Kering and their wonderful Maisons, to help increase their desirability and saliency through innovative and exclusive media strategies. Moreover, I am proud to work with Kering, a leading global champion for sustainability, and will make sure that media is at the core of its sustainability agenda.”

Morrissey added: "With a new business proposition and narrative, Amy and Cécile join iProspect’s global leadership team at a pivotal moment in our journey as we accelerate brands through our performance mindset. We are obsessed with making brands famous, but we do it differently. We build iconic brands through signals and data, by fusing brand and performance with identity-first decision making. I am energised by the new opportunities our next generation of leaders will create as we work together to accelerate iProspect’s new path to growth.”