AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – Ogilvy Social.Lab Amsterdam announces the appointment of Shona Lang, appointed Chief Operations Officer, and Chris Walts as Head of Strategy. Two familiar Ogilvy colleagues from within the global network selected to strengthen the existing Amsterdam management team as new business wins and international awards set the Netherlands-based team into a position to expand.
In his new role as Head of Strategy, Chris Walts will be responsible for the effective strategic formulation and management of national and global clients. His experience stems from many positions across the world, such as Digital Strategist in Canada, and Director of Marketing & PR, Futures Director, as well as leading the Social Strategy offering for Ogilvy UK.
Walts joined Ogilvy UK in 2016 and has since made a significant impact by developing large multi-channel strategies across accounts, strengthened client relationships in both B2B and B2C disciplines, and successfully facilitated, developed, and positioned the agency’s social and content offering to secure new business across the EMEA region. Altogether, Chris has been a key part of both the Strategy Craft and Social and Content leadership teams at Ogilvy UK and led Ogilvy’s point of view on the future of marketing for clients.
Shona Lang, in the role of COO, will support CEO Jai Kotecha in executing the agency’s strategy as well as overseeing daily operations, finance, and client remittance. She has solid experience in the advertising world gained through various executive roles in France and Belgium. Throughout her 15 years at Ogilvy Paris and more recently at Ogilvy Brussels, she has been instrumental in negotiating European contracts, working on International Client Business, and Agency Compliancy in the role of Business Operations Manager, Finance Director, and Commercial Finance Director. Lang brings her long time Ogilvy experience in Advertising and Media to Amsterdam to drive the future growth of the Netherlands agency.
Jai Kotecha, CEO Ogilvy Social.Lab Amsterdam: “We are delighted to welcome both Shona and Chris to our Amsterdam office. The international expansion of our executive board ties in excellently with Ogilvy’s borderless creativity, and I believe this is the perfect time for them to join as we have been growing our global clients over the past few months and continue to draw on our international expertise to adapt for local relevance.”
With Ogilvy Social.Lab Amsterdam’s recent wins as the most awarded agency in the Netherlands at the Cannes Lions 2021, and latest new business victories of the European Para Championships (EPC) and FrieslandCampina, the appointment of seasoned Ogilvy talent comes at the most incredible time of the agency’s growth.
