Whalar Boosts EMEA Team With Three New Hires

Leading global creator commerce company Whalar continues its significant growth with the addition of three new hires in its commercial team covering Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): 

• Samantha Hicks, Commercial Director

• Bandi Manzini, Senior Brand Partnerships Director – Beauty & CPG

• Liz Harriott, Senior Brand Partnerships Director – Entertainment & Gaming

The new appointments come as the company continues its significant advancement in one of the fastest growing industries. Whalar is the only company in the emerging creator economy to directly manage creator talent and brand partnerships while building innovative proprietary technology and Web3 practice. In addition, Whalar is the preferred partner for all five major platforms, TikTok, Meta, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube. 

UK commercial lead, Samantha Hicks, has been at the forefront of developing digital marketing strategies and innovation pilot programmes for leading global brands covering CPG, Telco, Apparel and Finance for over 20 years. More recently, Samantha led Spotify Advertising’s EMEA and APAC account management teams, where she was part of MediaWeek’s UK Sales Team of the Year.

As commercial director at Whalar, Samantha will be responsible for shaping and driving the commercial sales strategy for Whalar in the UK, reporting into EMEA President, Marco Bertozzi. She will be managing the Partnerships team to build long term, profitable and trusted relationships with clients to drive revenue growth and deliver a best-in-class client experience.

Bandi Manzini previously worked at Conde Nast where she played a key role in pivoting GLAMOUR UK into a successful digital 1st proposition – successfully leading the launch of the publication’s e-commerce initiatives and delivering over six figures in revenue for beauty event sponsorships. In her 20-year career, she has spearheaded content-led partnerships and cross-media marketing solutions for companies including ClearChannel, ITV and Time Inc.

Liz Harriott is an experienced brand partnership and sales lead with over 15-years’ experience in media and advertising. She has successfully led commercial entertainment and gaming business for companies such as Bauer Media, ShortList and Stylist. Most recently she was part of the team that relaunched The Face, where she led the brand partnerships and commercial business.

Both senior brand partnership directors will be responsible for developing lasting and authentic client relationships and brand partnerships, as well as increasing revenue across the Beauty, CPG and Entertainment & Gaming verticals at Whalar,

Samantha Hicks, commercial director at Whalar said: “The Creator Economy is shaping up to be one of the most powerful evolutions in media, especially for Gen Z and Millennial audiences. I’m excited to join Whalar as one of the leading businesses in this space, and to have the opportunity to work with brands to creatively and effectively engage people and communities when they’re most engaged themselves.”

Speaking of the new appointments, Marco Bertozzi, President, EMEA at Whalar said: “We’re delighted to welcome Samantha, Bandi and Liz to the Whalar family. They join at an exciting time for Whalar as we take bold steps in setting a global standard in powering the Creator Economy. The vast amount of expertise between them and passion for delivering for clients makes them valuable assets to not only the future growth of Whalar but for the success of the brands and platforms we partner with.”

Whalar continues to push forward as a leading creator commerce company, honoured by Adweek as the 2022 Creator Agency of the Year win. Whalar’s creativity and innovation of their campaigns and talent partnerships were also commended recently with five Adweek Creator Visionary Award wins. Additionally, Whalar acquired C Talent, a disabled-led, award-winning talent management and consultancy company that represents high-profile Deaf and Disabled talent in an effort to represent Deaf and Disabled voices to power all communities of the creator economy.