Trading places: this week's people moves

Advertising

McCann London has appointed VCCP's international planning director, Dan Izbicki, as its new head of planning. (Campaign)

Maxus has appointed Stuart Butler to the new role of head of strategy as part of wider strengthening of its management team. (Campaign)

Saatchi & Saatchi has poached Gavin Torrance and Danny Hunt, the associate creative directors at Dare, and Mark Slack and Gemma Phillips, a creative team from The Red Brick Road. (Campaign)

TWBA\London's managing director Andy De Groose is leaving the agency after just 18 months at the helm. He will not be replaced, with his responsibilities instead being spilt between TBWA\London’s president, Robert Harwood-Matthews, executive creative director, Dede Laurentino and chief strategy officer, Zaid Al-Zaidy. (Campaign)

180, the creative agency owned by Omnicom, has appointed its Los Angeles managing partner Michael Allen as global chief executive. (Campaign)

Lida has hired creative team Andy O'Carroll and Spencer White to work primarily on its Ikea account, as part of a number of new appointments. (Campaign)

Marketing

McDonald’s chief executive Jim Skinner is retiring from the fast-food chain after seven years in the role, and is being replaced by chief operating officer Don Thompson. (Marketing)

Ask.com, the IAC-owned search-and-answer service, has parted company with its senior global marketing director Sarah Bartlett, as it winds down the UK marketing function in favour of a global strategy. (Marketing)

Children's charity the NSPCC has hired ex-Channel 4 sales strategist Mike Parker as interim fundraising director to lead its consumer-facing marketing activity. (Marketing)

Walmart-owned Asda has appointed Stephen Smith as its chief marketing officer, replacing incumbent Rick Bendel, who will move to a global marketing role at Walmart. (Marketing)

Media

Rob Atkinson, the former chief operating officer of Clear Channel Outdoor, will not be returning to the UK, after taking up the position of chief executive of Clear Channel's joint venture Adshel in Australia and New Zealand. (Media Week)

Mindshare Worldwide has appointed Greg Brooks, C Squared's content strategy director, to the new position of global marketing director. (Media Week)

Starcom managing director Matt James is to join the ex-pat community in the post of managing director of Mi9 a joint venture between Microsoft and Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment. (Media Week)

DataXu, the US-headquarted demand-side platform, has appointed its co-founder Bruce Journey to head up its international operations. (Media Week)

MediaCom has appointed former Edinburgh office managing director Euan Jarvie as chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. (Media Week)

IPG Mediabrands has appointed Jason Carter to lead its recently introduced data-driven digital operation Mediabrands Audience Platform (Map) in the UK. (Campaign)

Primesight has poached Amscreen's European managing director of sales and marketing, Chris Forrester, to be its new commercial director. (Media Week)

Follow Daniel Farey-Jones on Twitter @danfareyjones