Amplify Expands and Diversifies Strategy Department with Four New Hires

Amplify – the marketing agency that joins the dots between people, brands and culture – has appointed four new strategists in line with agency’s ongoing expansion and diversification. The recruits reflect Amplify’s broadening skill set, focusing more deeply on consumer insight and cultural connection. 

The new hires comprise Adam Thompson (an absolute specialist in creating transformative retail environments), Maria Kivimaa (who previously lead Nike strategy at AKQA), Rosie Copland-Mann (a creative tech aficionado hailing from Rehab Agency) and Pippo Khalwa (a strategist-come-musician who also comes to Amplify from AKQA).  

Adam Thompson joins as strategy director, with a remit to help lead Amplify’s growing retail specialism. Before a spell at FutureBrand UXUS, Adam was head of strategy at Winkreative, where duties included leading the global repositioning for Lexus; a gargantuan project that spanned content creation, retail, brand experience and activations. While at FutureBrand UXUS, Adam led creative strategy on Peloton and Pandora, influencing rollouts of the brands’ ground-breaking retail environments.

Maria Kivimaa is appointed as senior creative strategist after leading strategy for Nike at AKQA. Having also worked on projects for adidas originals, Bvlgari, Hypebeast and Warner Music, Maria specialises in creating cultural relevance across music, fashion, new luxury, sport and youth culture. She is also the Founder of next-gen men’s mag DECENT, which aims to explore what it means to be a man in 2021.

Rosie Copland-Mann takes the post of creative strategist. In her previous role at Rehab Agency, she helped brands leverage creative technology to build meaningful experiences and audience relationships. Rosie has worked with Estée Lauder, Facebook, HBO, Nike, Spotify and Warner Media; and is the Founder of Ok, and?, a media outlet that examines the intersection of culture, tech and brand.

Pippo Khalwa becomes Amplify’s junior creative strategist, after working on Nike’s You Can’t Be Stopped campaign at AKQA. Having interned with Tom Goodwin, Khalwa has also worked on projects for Facebook, Youth Music and Nominet. He specialises in youth culture and ideation, is a public speaker and a musician who has performed alongside Yung Fume, Lowkey and Bone Thugs n Harmony. 

Commenting on the significance of the new hires, Amplify’s strategy partner, Dan Minty, said: “The complexity of the past year has seen our clients seek out strategic counsel to help navigate the implications for their audiences and the cultural spaces they exist in. It’s hugely exciting to be bringing in such a talented new group of strategists to help provide this insight, and to add a fresh set of perspectives to the business as we continue our growth globally while exploring new channels and opportunities.”