Influencer Hires Ex-McCann and SuperAwesome Leaders as COO and CMO

Creator marketing agency Influencer has appointed Chris Hansen, a former senior leader at SuperAwesome and Power Digital, as Chief Operating Officer, and Crystal Malachias, previously Global Head of Influencer at McCann, as Global Chief Marketing Officer.

The agency frames both hires around its "Creator Marketing Engineer" operating model, which links Creator-First AEO, Creative, Media and Commerce services through shared technology, insights and workflows. Tara Walpert Levy has also joined as an adviser.

"Brands are asking creators to do more across their businesses, and that requires us to connect our services, technology and people in new ways," said Ben Jeffries, co-founder and CEO of Influencer.

What does this change for practitioners?

For brands running creator programs, the pitch is simpler execution at scale. Hansen will lead operations and product, building systems to run programs involving thousands of partnerships. His priorities include advancing Waves, the agency's proprietary technology, and establishing a product marketing function. Influencer said Waves will underpin the operating model, helping teams identify talent, connect audience insights and manage creator programs.

"Our job is to make brand partnerships work for both sides," Hansen said. "By connecting our technology and operations, we can give teams more time for creative thinking, strategy and creator relationships while making larger programs easier to execute."

Malachias brings operational credibility from McCann, where she was also Global Co-Managing Director and built out McCann Content Studios, the agency's social and influencer offering, across 16 markets. At Influencer, she will commercialize the Creator Marketing Engineer model and support expansion into 10 core global markets by the end of 2027.

"Brands should be able to walk through one front door for everything creators can do for their business, from campaigns and commerce to visibility in AI search," Malachias said.

The demand signal behind the restructure

Influencer said 90% of the RFPs and briefs it received over the past six months called for greater connection across AEO, Creative, Media and Commerce. That's the agency's own number, so treat it as a sales argument until independent data backs it up. What it does signal is where buyer expectations are moving: bundled creator services rather than standalone campaign buys.

The model builds on the "Marketing Engineer" concept established by AI marketing company Profound, whose partnership with Influencer also supports the Creator-First AEO offering the agency launched in August. According to the agency, performance data from the model will feed back into future briefs and investment decisions. The agency didn't specify how that feedback loop will be measured, or what happens if the data contradicts the model's assumptions.

A pattern of platform hires

The appointments follow a run of senior hires drawn from the platforms Influencer partners with:

• Conor Thompson, who led TikTok MENA's consumer client solutions team, joined as Executive Director, Brand Partnerships for the Middle East and North Africa.
• Stuart Flint, former VP of Europe Sales at TikTok, joined the advisory board in May.
• Tara Walpert Levy, the new adviser, rounds out a leadership bench with deep platform and media pedigree.

Founded in 2015 by Jeffries and Caspar Lee, Influencer runs teams in London, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Riyadh and Dubai. Its client list includes Google, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Nike, Monzo, Spotify and SharkNinja.

With a 2027 market target, a proprietary tech stack and two hires who've scaled global operations before, Influencer is positioning integration as the product. The next test is whether bundled AEO, media and commerce deliver measurable lift that brands can verify on their own.