Ad Shop Ramps up Talent With Five Agency Hires

NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Adrenalina, a leading multicultural advertising and marketing agency that is part of the MDC Partners network, announced today the staff hires of Edwin Hincapie, Angela Renfroe, Paola Ortega, Jacob Lake and Regina Mojica.

All five appointments are effective immediately with Hincapie joining as senior account director, consumer engagement + business development; Renfroe coming on board as director, talent; Ortega signing on as director, action marketing; Lake assuming the role of cognitive and cultural anthropologist; and Mojica serving as brand leader, Tecate.

Hincapie will report to Jules Aspesi, director, new business development; Renfroe, Ortega and Lake will report to Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner; and Mojica will report jointly to Ortega and Yonathan Bendesky, senior brand leader.

The five hires are the latest in a growing number of appointments at the ad marketing shop aimed at pumping up the agency's consumer and client-aimed approach.

"Edwin's drive, energy and deep understanding of the multicultural consumer experience adds depth to the agency's offerings in event and experiential marketing while helping us to widen our reach as we seek out new business opportunities," said Aspesi, who previously worked with Hincapie at the Vidal Partnership, New York.

Noted Wernicky: "This varied group of hires, Edwin (Hincapie), Angela (Renfroe), Paola (Ortega), Jacob (Lake) and Regina (Mojica), enhance existing personnel and services throughout the agency—from the consumer and client sides to our own internal operations," he said, adding, "We anticipate their work and contributions will ignite innovation and growth internally and for our clients, their brands and consumers."

Adrenalina's consumer and client-centric effort, launched a year ago, is designed to boost branding, creative, digital, strategic, retail and engagement programs as part of a wider effort to prime the agency to meet the shifting needs of existing and prospective clients.

Hincapie comes to Adrenalina after serving as an account manager at Momentum Worldwide, New York, working on the multicultural business of Verizon in the domestic, Latin American, European and Asian Pacific markets.

In a new Adrenalina post, Hincapie will oversee the ad shop's push to enrich the engagement experience for clients and their consumers, developing and executing sports, entertainment, retail and consumer promotions and event marketing.

Prior to joining Momentum, Hincapie worked as an account manager for 3 1/2 years at the Vidal Partnership, working with clients and brands that included, Diageo (Johnnie Walker, Buchanan's, Cuervo, Ketel One), Kraft, Nissan and Sprint.

Throughout his career, Hincapie has led Hispanic sponsorship initiatives leveraging NASCAR's Juan Pablo Montoya, the Mana and Juanes' U.S. tours/private concerts and New York Mets' Carlos Beltran Clinic for Sprint; the Hispanic grassroots repositioning of Kraft's Tang; and grassroots/community events, advertising, online initiatives, consumer sweepstakes, promotional signage and event creation and execution for a number of clients and brands including Coors Light, Home Depot and Kraft.

Hincapie has a bachelor of science in international marketing and finance from Fordham University, Bronx, New York.

Advertising industry HR veteran Renfroe becomes director, talent, Adrenalina, a post she shares with employer client, AgencySacks, where she has served three years as director of human resources. She previously worked for seven years as director of human resources at the former Spier New York, preceded by a nine-year stint as a consultant at People Management Inc. (PMI), where she provided human resources services to employer clients, including Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, Porter /Novelli and DDB Needham Worldwide.

Renfroe will be responsible for developing and instituting the ad shop's talent resources with an eye on cultivating incomparable personnel, maintaining high retention levels and a vibrant agency culture. She fills the human resources post left vacant by the departure in April of Michelle Maldonado, who formerly served as VP, talent and culture.

Renfroe has a bachelor of business administration from the Bernard M. Baruch College of the City of New York.

Ortega joins Adrenalina as director, action marketing, overseeing below-the-line promotions for the Tecate brands and other new business opportunities. She comes to the agency from Legion Advertising, Irving, Texas, where she worked for nearly five years as an account director with clients including Marinela, Bimbo and Sigma Alimentos.

Ortega previously served as account director at McCann Erickson, Mexico City, overseeing the business of Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma brands such as Tecate, Superior, Sol, Noche Buena and Bohemia. Prior to that, she was an account supervisor at BBDO, Mexico City, handling business for Frito-Lay brands such as Sabritas, Tostitos, Salsabritas, Ruffles and Cheetos.

Ortega has a master's in advertising and marketing from Anahuac University, Mexico City.

Lake comes to the ad shop as a cognitive and cultural anthropologist—the agency's title for strategic planner—after serving as a strategist at the Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., where he worked with retail client, Walmart on its "Price Leadership" campaign.

As a cognitive and cultural anthropologist, or "cog," Lake's strategic thinking puts culture ahead of brand consumerism. The agency rolled out its forward-looking cultural approach to the old school model of strategic planning with a dedicated cognitive and cultural studies unit in July 2009.

Putting the cultural mindset of consumers ahead of the focus group discussion lets cognitive anthropologists build a cultural profile of consumers utilizing data, insight and other qualitative perspective and offers a clearer picture of who they are, what is happening in their lives and how they behave rather than what they say, according to Wernicky.

Lake is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and has a masters of science in communications strategy from VCU Brandcenter, Richmond, Va.

Joining the Tecate team as brand leader is Mojica, who previously worked for 1 1/2 years as an account executive of the former Bromley Communications, New York, handling business for clients and brands including AstraZeneca (Nexium, Pulmicort), Sanofi Pasteur (Menactra), Babies R Us and Scholastic.

Mojica has a bachelor of business administration from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City.

For more information about Adrenalina, or for photos of Hincapie, Renfroe, Ortega, Lake and Mojica, send an email to: [email protected].

About Adrenalina

A new kind of agency for a new America, Adrenalina, New York, is a full-service brand leadership consultancy that infuses multinational brands with cultural and emotional messaging via digital innovation, creative experiences with stopping power, social networking and action marketing strategies designed to ignite a multicultural consumer revolution.

About MDC Partners Inc.

MDC Partners is a progressive marketing and communications network, championing the most innovative entrepreneurial talent. MDC Partners provides strategic solutions and services to multinational clients in North America, Europe and Latin America. Our philosophy emphasizes the utilization of strategy and high value creativity to drive growth and measurable impact for our clients. "MDC Partners is The Place Where Great Talent Lives." The company's Class A shares are publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol "MDCA" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDZA."

SOURCE Adrenalina

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