Iris Elevates Global CMO Jill Smith to CEO, Americas

Iris Worldwide, the global creative network, has today announced the promotion of global chief marketing officer Jill Smith to the role of CEO, Americas. The appointment comes following a series of new business wins for Iris, which has focused its efforts on establishing its position in the market as ‘The Participation Agency.’ Jill replaces Ian Sohn, who left the agency in August 2023, and she will report to Ian Millner, co-founder and chair of Iris Worldwide.

Jill’s remit will span all key stateside locations including New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Toronto and Sao Paulo. She is tasked with further building the business in line with the needs of clients, which include Bentley, Samsonite and Barclays. In particular, she will spearhead the network’s approach to growing brands through participation marketing, amidst the industry reporting an increase in the cost of media and a decrease in effectiveness.

Since she was promoted to her most recent position of global CMO in July 2023, she has spearheaded a major growth drive for the agency, which has picked up new accounts including Monkey Shoulder Whiskey (William Grant & Sons), Scout Electric Vehicles (VW) and the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). She has also played a key role in boosting organic growth with existing clients such as Beiersdorf, Alcon and Bosch.

A “homegrown” talent, Jill started at Iris almost a decade ago, working in six different roles across two geographies since then, and most recently holding senior client-facing roles in the US and China. She joined Iris as an account director in New York in 2015 before moving to its China office in 2017, first as business director, and later becoming managing director of Iris China in 2018.

She returned to the U.S. in 2019 as CMO for Iris North America, winning accounts like Barclays and PayPal. In May 2021, she took on a global role with parent company Cheil. As CMO for Cheil Connec+ she was responsible for the marketing and growth strategy spanning Cheil’s network of six agencies (Cheil, Barbarian, BMB, Iris, CYLNDR and McKinney), winning business briefs from the likes of Samsung and Beiersdorf for the network, which spanned 53 offices worldwide and 6,500+ people. 

"It’s never been more important to support, stretch and stimulate talent,” said Ian Millner, chair, and co-founder, Iris Worldwide. Where agencies see ambition, ingenuity, and hard work they should look to create opportunity and reward success. I’ve worked with Jill for years from Iris New York to Iris Shanghai, to Cheil Connec+ and back again! She is a role model and an inspiration and will be great as the CEO of the region.”

“Iris has a distinctive proposition as ‘The Participation Agency’—one that goes back to the agency’s roots since launching 25 years ago and one that continues to resonate with clients at a time when they are trying to do more with less in the face of increased media costs”, Jill said. “I’ve been part of our agency’s evolution and central to developing strategies for how clients can tackle this ‘cost of media crisis’ and I’m excited to take our offering to an even broader range of brilliant clients in my new role as CEO of the Americas.”

Iris’ global offering of developing participation strategies for brands has included recent work for Bentley, Samsonite, Wellstar Health System and IHG Hotels & Resorts in the U.S. and Samsung, adidas and Jack Daniel’s in the UK. Campaigns have focused on how brands can collaborate with communities and individuals to create content that resonates culturally and embeds brands seamlessly into people’s lives. According to Iris’ Performance Brand Index study, 79% don’t notice much advertising these days, while 75% intentionally avoid or skip it. Meanwhile 4 in 5 trust other people over brands. 

An entrepreneur at heart, Jill began her career in the art world before launching her own boutique creative agency, Mayonnaise, in 2012 which specialised in brand strategy and creative development for the likes of Prada, Red Bull, FIFA and Blackman Cider Company. In 2015 Mayonnaise Creative merged with Capricious 88, now Company Gallery.

Outside of her work at Iris, Jill is a part-time member of the faculty at The New School University, teaching social entrepreneurship and socio-tech innovation. She is also an early-stage start-up investor, as well as an advisor at Astia and a member of Chief and FourthFloor. 

Iris will announce Jill’s replacement in due course.