CTI Digital has appointed Justin Bland as Chief Operating Officer to bolster the executive leadership team. In his remit, Justin is charged with developing and enhancing the delivery of work for CTI's clients and improving operational performance across the full suite of services offered by the integrated digital agency.
Justin joins CTI with over 13 years in the marketing industry, working at agencies such as Razorfish, R/GA, Essence and Wunderman, and, most recently, at an agency and group level at WPP and GroupM as Global Executive Director of People, Operations and Transformation.
He's an experienced and versatile operator. At Wunderman North America, he helped establish the Operations practice and led the Design Kitchen business as MD of the SF office, focusing on social content creation. He then went on to design, launch and grow Essence and GroupM's offshore product, scaling it to over 1,000 specialists in four countries within a two-year period. Most recently, Justin was part of WPP's Open-X team, partnering with Coca-Cola to drive its marketing transformation across the entire customer journey. He was a leadership team member who designed and built a brand new fully integrated studio operating model specifically for Coca-Cola, which included a 1,500-strong team deployed across nine global studios.
On his role at CTI, Justin said, "CTI is well positioned in the market to continue its track record of sustained success, and I look forward to helping accelerate its growth rate. Its core DNA, talent, tech capabilities, and proposition are all very strong, along with the opportunities to integrate client needs across the digital marketing ecosystem. I'm thrilled to join the outstanding team of people at CTI, and I look forward to partnering with the executive leadership to power the company through the next phase of its exciting journey."
Justin will focus on agency client delivery, business growth and margin. He leads Operations across the entire CTI portfolio, including its project management, facilities and IT teams. In addition, he will optimise the design and utilisation of the business's talent and resources for maximum productivity and growth.
Laura Packwood joins as Human Resource Director and will sit as part of the agency's Senior Leadership Team. Laura joins from AppLearn, a global tech business that has recently undergone a successful sale. At AppLearn, Laura was the Global VP of People. Laura joins CTI at a time when the agency is reinvesting in its global people strategy and will be driving significant change to enhance the employee value proposition to ensure that CTI becomes a destination employer for digital talent across the UK and also internationally.
Laura said: "I am delighted to join CTI during this phase of growth. I'm looking forward to championing our incredible teams, nurturing their talents and fostering a culture of growth and innovation. It's an exciting time to join CTI, and I'm optimistic about what we can achieve together with our employees."
CTI CEO Chris Woodward said: "With the arrival of Justin, we have now completed the transformation of our executive leadership team in less than six months. Justin brings substantial international experience, and it is a testament to our organisation's ambition that we can attract someone of his calibre. He will make a very fast impact on our organisation and benefit our people and clients.”
"It is equally pleasing that Laura is joining us at this important moment; Laura also brings significant experience that will benefit our people and our clients as we seek to scale the business over the next two years. Her track record speaks for itself, and I look forward to working with Laura to build the strongest employee value proposition of any agency in the UK." Chris added.
