Laura Smales, formerly senior account director at Stickyeyes, has joined Rise at Seven’s senior management team.
Smales is among the first senior appointments to Rise at Seven since founder and CEO Carrie Rose successfully took sole ownership of the company in an MBO. She will be responsible for levelling up commercial acumen and strategic growth ahead of a new era for the agency. The search-first creative agency has four offices globally, with American expansion in full force.
A 12-year veteran of Stickyeyes, Smales led global accounts including Kroger, Hertz, Tommee Tippee, CWT and ghd as well as driving strategies for multi-service accounts across UK, Europe and the US.
She joins the agency as part of a group of senior hires alongside Dave Bennett, who recently joined as director of communications following experience at agencies like Freuds, Edelman, Fleishman Hillard and Exposure, and Kristal Ireland who brings years of experience in digital marketing and strategy at Virgin Trains and UK Coaching and has joined Rise as executive director.
Founder and CEO Rose said: “We’re thrilled to hire someone like Laura, who brings a decade’s worth of experience in commercial roles at great agencies, to help us scale to that next level. We have big plans for the next year, a strategy for global growth, and for introducing new service offerings. Laura joining us is just the start to our next phase.”
Smales added: “What attracted me to Rise at Seven was their proposition in the market, being focused on creative search to drive demand, which is truly unique. Additionally, I was grateful for the opportunity to be part of a company that is rapidly growing from a start-up again. Part of that growth has come as a result of expanding out services for clients, in order to achieve their overall commercial goals, from PR as a single service to a multi-channel approach. I’m excited to see what the future brings for Rise at Seven.”
