Jo Wood has been appointed as chief strategy officer of Wilson Hartnell, part of Ogilvy & Mather Group.
With over 12 years’ experience in leading the development of effective brand and communication strategies, Wood has held strategic planning roles at MCCP, where she was strategy director since 2017, DDFH&B and Ogilvy Dublin, where she first began her career.
Wood joins Wilson Hartnell during a period of sustained growth and success for the agency. The company was the most decorated PR agency at the PR Awards for Excellence in both 2018 and 2019 and has added several European Sponsorship Awards to its recent accolades. Established in 1972, the company has continuously expanded its offering by investing in digital and content capabilities over the last decade.
According to Sharon Murphy, chief executive, Wilson Hartnell: “Decoding consumer behaviour and that which affects it is in constant sharp focus for us. It is an endless source of fascination and inspiration. Just as consumer behaviour continues to change, so too must our agency model. Jo’s keen interest in behavioural science is aligned to our approach to making brands matter. Her extensive experience coupled with her probing mind, further strengthens our planning capability and I am delighted she has joined the Wilson Hartnell team”.
Wood has won four ADFX Awards during her time in the advertising and planning industry including Gold as the lead planner on SuperValu for Long Term Effectiveness in 2016. In her ten years in advertising agencies, she has worked on a portfolio of clients, including SuperValu, Ulster Bank, Irish Life, Peter Mark, HSE, safefood, eir, Littlewoods Ireland, Heinz, Mazda, ISPCC and Lucozade. More recently, her clients have included Lidl, AIB, Heineken, Groupon, Dale Farm and Britvic.
“In a world of increasing complexity, the role of strategy has never been more important in helping our clients and their brands navigate the cultural tensions we are seeing such as purpose and profit, automation and humanity, and data and creativity. To drive meaningful customer experiences in the age of continuous connection, we need to understand both the rational and irrational consumer motivations. I am excited about the possibilities that will come from combining my planning experience with Wilson Hartnell’s proven editorial mindset and unrelenting passion for culturally relevant campaign,” says Wood.
