Publicis Seattle Appoints Ryan Stoner as Strategy Director

Publicis Seattle announced today the appointment of Ryan Stoner as Strategy Director, a new position. In addition, six new hires have joined the agency to round out the agency’s strategy department as it continues to add new business and respond to increased demand for strategic leadership with existing clients.  

Reporting to Chief Strategy Officer Britt Fero, Stoner will lead strategic development for key pieces of T-Mobile business including retail, device relationships, B2B, sponsorship business segments and the brand’s digital/mobile experiences. His team will be charged with identifying and fostering opportunities that will guide growth and expansion of the business, not just communications.

“Building a strategy team that goes beyond ‘brand or account planning’ is incredibly exciting and incredibly necessary today. We’ve hand-picked some of the best available talent with varied and diverse backgrounds to serve our clients,” Fero said. “Ryan and team bring exceptional skill sets, which when combined, will not only create a more, comprehensive strategic offering, but will also deepen our bench strength across emerging platforms and technologies.”

Before joining Publicis Seattle, Stoner was the founder of two startups: MoPix as CEO; and Switchcam as VP Business Strategy & New Business. Prior to that, he worked in the agency world at shops including B-Reel, Omelet and Publicis on key brands such HP, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Activision and InBev.

“After founding several startups, I was eager to return to a creative agency environment where I can push an agency in new ways based upon my startup experience,” said Stoner. “I am excited for the opportunity to help build a strategy group that understands and incorporates the speed and nature of today's lean startup culture and business. To me, that means being able to react quicker to anticipate new platforms, new services, new businesses and new forms of interaction.”

In addition to Stoner, Publicis Seattle welcomes the following hires to round out the strategy team:

- Nicole McKeown, Senior Strategist: McKeown comes to Publicis Seattle from Nintendo of America, as well as Wunderman, where she worked on CRM strategy for Xbox.

- JP Martin, Senior Strategist: An architect turned strategist, Martin comes from Publicis BOS Group and Zeus Jones, having worked with brands such as Purina, General Mills, Breathe Right and Wheat Thins.

- Marie Matuszewski, Strategist: A recent VCU Brandcenter graduate, Matuszewski will be responsible for strategic assistance and driving thought leadership for T-Mobile and Cinerama.

- Casey Sperzel, Analyst: Focusing on digital campaign analysis and reporting for the T-Mobile account, Sperzel comes from Space150 in Minneapolis. There she was a media planner for a national restaurant.

- Karen Hymes, User Experience Designer: In this new position, Hymes will focus on digital strategy, experience mapping and 3D modeling and printing for T-Mobile and other accounts. Previously, she was at 180 LA and Kimley-Horn and Associates as a designer.

- Chad Woods, Creative Technologist: On the T-Mobile account, Woods will focus on rapid prototyping and interactive design. He joins the team from The Martin Agency as a creative technologist.