Creative agency Instrument has promoted several of its executives, including a new CEO, creating a new C-suite line up. And they all happen to be women.
Laurel Burton, who was named president just last summer, has been named CEO. She replaces Kara Place, who had been CEO since June 2022. Burton has been with the agency for 10 years.
Other executive promotions are:
- Nishat Akhtar is now chief creative officer. She was previously vice president of creative.
- Tessa Baston is now chief people officer. She was previously vice president of people.
- Leon Anderson is now president. He was vice president of production.
- Stephanie Lanning, is now senior vice president of growth. She was formerly vice president of new business and marketing.
- JD Hooge is now creative chair. He was previously chief creative officer.
The C-suite is rounded out by Chief Operating Officer Coryna Sorin, who has been in her role since 2020.
"We're taking bold steps in 2024 to reshape our business for our clients and our talent as we grow Instrument into a world-class network where creativity knows no bounds," said Burton in a written statement.
The company, which is part of a network of agencies under a business unit of Stagwell Inc. (Nasdaq: STGW), has 350 employees. The company works with clients in areas such as strategy, design, development and content creation.
Last year it went through a rebranding and introduced more client offerings. That appears to be paying off. Management said 2023 saw 50 new accounts sign on to the agency. The agency also expanded work with AWS and Microsoft.
In the same announcement the agency said it intends to build its innovation practice and add emerging technology to both client projects and its own operations. This work will be led by executive director of innovation Mike Creighton and will include the agency’s approach to artificial intelligence.
