iProspect, a leading global digital performance agency, announced today the appointment of Adam Kasper as Executive Vice President, Managing Director. Effective immediately, Adam will report directly to Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, iProspect US.

San Francisco independent advertising agency Duncan Channon, a two-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year in the West, today announced the hire of John Kovacevich as executive creative director. The addition of Kovacevich as ECD expands Duncan Channon’s creative team in response to agency growth.

The winners of 2018 Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence were announced at the 4A’s StratFest conference in New York City. The Grand Prix, which is selected from the Gold award winners, was awarded to McCann Worldgroup India for its “5 Words That Make Toilets India’s New Status Symbol.” The agency won a total of five awards at this year’s presentation, including the Agency of the Year, a new award in 2018.

The 4A’s is innovating its approach to conferences, focusing on events that address urgent issues with tangible actions, drilling-down on industry challenges to better meet the realities and needs of its members in real time. To mark the shift towards action-oriented events, the 4A’s will forgo hosting its industry-wide spring conference in 2019, and will instead host an inaugural Decisions 20/20 forum, on March 25-26, 2019 in Washington D.C.  In addition, due to its popularity, the 4A’s will expand its annual Management Practitioners’ Forum (MPF) to become a standalone event, taking place on April 29-30, 2019 at the W Downtown in Chicago.

Laughlin Constable (LC), a Top 25 independent agency, announced today that it has hired Lisa Bennett as its Chief Creative Officer. Bennett arrives at LC from newly independent TM Advertising in Dallas where she has spent the past three years as Chief Creative Officer. Prior to joining TM, she was North American Creative Lead for DDB Worldwide and Chief Creative Officer of DDB San Francisco.

The 4A’s will host the biennial Agency Communications Summit on October 30 at Convene at 32 Old Slip in New York City. This year’s conference will offer communications and public relations professionals the opportunity to meet leading journalists covering the advertising, marketing and media industries, as well as connect with industry leaders to discuss the critical topics influencing how agencies tell their stories.

Pavone Marketing Group, an integrated marketing and communications group with agencies specializing in food & beverage marketing, senior & retirement living, and marketing research & innovation, has named Jonathan Cooper to lead communication strategies.

WPP today announced the creation of a new agency, VMLY&R, uniting two leading brands to deliver a contemporary, fully integrated digital and creative offering to clients on a global scale.

McKinney, in support of the Gun Safety Alliance, looks to raise awareness and seek in-kind donations from the advertising community in the belief that some forecasts can be changed

BikeNWA, the leading advocate for biking in Northwest Arkansas dedicated to encouraging cycling for recreation and/or transportation to help foster an active and healthy lifestyle for the community, has named independent creative and media agency, Walrus. Under the partnership, Walrus will handle all strategy, creative and media duties for BikeNWA.

Marketing services firm Mortenson Kim has acquired Indianapolis-based Raidious – creating one of the largest agencies in Indiana, with capitalized billings projected to exceed $40 million annually. The new organization, working under the name Mortenson Kim + Raidious, combines Mortenson Kim, an integrated marketing communications agency, with Raidious, a marketing firm focused on delivering content-based marketing solutions and customer experiences.

Deutsch today announced it has elevated Kelsey Hodgkin as Head of Strategy to head strategic planning for all Los Angeles clients.