VMLY&R COMMERCE Grows Global Ecommerce Offer with New Hires

VMLY&R COMMERCE has announced new hires focused on accelerating ecommerce services for clients globally – Mary Simpson as commerce director, DTC/Omnichannel, Laura Cullen as commerce director, capabilities and James Galland as commerce director, Amazon & Marketplace. All are based in London and working across global accounts, reporting into Gemma Spence VP commerce transformation.

In this newly appointed role, Mary Simpson will act as the bridge between client, commercial, creative and digital and social commerce teams to develop commerce growth services across Direct-to-consumer commerce strategies that inspire brand and business outcomes. She joins with vast experience spanning retailers, eCommerce and FMCG/CPG, including 16 years in eCommerce with a specialty focus in online grocery sales drawn from her time at Waitrose and Danone. Mary also brings to the role a depth of buying and trading acumen having spent time at amazon.co.uk and Deliveroo. She has a proven track of record of driving eCommerce strategies across a wide range of product portfolios - grocery, beverages, and consumer electronics – delivering optimised customer experience and financial results for marketers worldwide. 

Laura brings to the agency expertise in both data and creative to ensure the delivery of innovative eCommerce strategies at scale. Laura’s background includes expanded knowledge across retail and commerce having worked in eCommerce, Brand Marketing, Shopper Insights, Research and New Product Development, including nearly five years at Unilever in the Personal Care and Home Care divisions.  Most recently she has been acting as a Senior eCommerce Consultant in the areas of quick commerce, advanced eContent activations, digital shelf KPIs/best practice, and eCommerce capabilities. This includes working on projects for clients from FMCG/CPG through to high-end brands such as Nestle, Starbucks, Danone and La Prairie. In this role, Laura is focused on developing agency and client capabilities including new omnichannel planning strategies and routes to process automation leveraging AI and machine learning for clients.  

James joins the agency having made a significant impact on the evolution of ecommerce strategy with a specific focus on building brands and driving performance on the Amazon platform. He joins with vast client-side experience from GSK and Reckitt where he served as Ecommerce Controller, overseeing everything from RGM to supply chain management. James will be responsible for scaling the agency’s already significant Amazon capabilities (Direct, Marketplace, B2B & Quick Commerce) to deliver sustainable market growth for its clients. Passionate about driving innovative big picture strategy, James has a track record of building partnerships internally and across commercial partners to help accelerate client ecommerce strategy, and proven success in delivering both exceptional commercial growth across marketing and content strategy and execution for Amazon annual and seasonal investments such as Prime Day.