Award-winning social media agency Born Social has announced Ishmail Omar will be taking on the role of Head of Client Services and James Sackey as Head of Paid Media.
New Head roles
The past twelve months have been a period of significant growth for the agency, with employee numbers rising by more than 25% and an expanding client roster with a number of major brand wins, including Fever Tree, citizenM Paris and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.
Since the start of the year, Born Social has made a series of appointments within the ‘heads-of’ team, including: Harry Fishwick as Head of Creative, Ed Knights as Head of New Business, Steph Ross as Head of Social Media Management and Kate Higham as Head of Operations.
The two new hires make a complete set for the agency.
Ishmail Omar
Omar (left, main pic) joins Born Social following two years working with London ad agency, Lightning Sharks and Swiss non-profit, Bitcoin Association, building out their internal teams to deliver social strategy.
He started his career at Facebook marketing partner, StitcherAds, before moving onto iProspect and OMD EMEA. Global brands in Ishmail’s repertoire include: P&G, adidas, British Airways, Bacardi and Intel.
Commenting on the hire, Abbey Mills, Executive Client Services Director and Partner, said: “We’re delighted to bring Ish on board. His variety of brand experience, understanding of the social space and outlook on strong agency x client partnerships made him a brilliant candidate to join the team.
“Outside of his agency experience, his energy, empathy and ambition for the next few years were all things we felt both the team, our clients and Born Social would benefit from.”
Omar said: “I’m excited to join Born Social. Their social-first, lead agency goal really captured my imagination and the work they do is often ahead of the curve.
“They have a myriad of clients that I’ve always wanted to work on. I can’t wait to get started.”
James Sackey
Sackey (right, main pic) joined Born Social in 2018 from WPP media agency, MEC/Wavemaker, to help build its paid media service – a key growth area for Born Social.
After three years of growth, this year they introduced the specialist Media Planning role, designed to bring top-down media strategy and insight to their existing product offering, which will help brands navigate the ever-changing social landscape.
Sackey will work closely with the strategy and creative departments to bring social-first media strategy and thinking to clients during a new stage of growth for the team.
“James has played a crucial role in building our paid media offering over the last few years,” said Callum McCahon, Executive Strategy Director and Partner.
“He now plays an integral part of our social-first offering. In his new and expanded role as our Head of Paid Media, we’ve tasked James with leading the team into its next phase of growth, identifying new capabilities, and building a paid media offering fit for the brands of tomorrow.”
Sackey said: “It’s been an amazing three years. I’ve learnt loads, and had the opportunity to work with some amazing people and businesses.
“I’m super excited to lead on the next step in the growth of the Paid Media team at Born, working with our clients to navigate the ever changing social landscape, and helping them deliver effective social-first work.”