We Are Social names head of strategy

Global social media agency We Are Social has brought in Adjust Your Set’s Harvey Cossell as head of strategy.

Cossell has spent the past three years as strategy director at Adjust Your Set, where he built the content agency’s strategic offer and planning team. While there, he also spoke at Cannes about the need for a coordinated approach to content in a world where, he says, interruptive advertising is coming under increasing pressure.

He started his career as a marketer for GlaxoSmithKline, before switching agency-side as a planner. Having worked for WCRS and then Euro RSCG (now Havas), he then joined JWT where he worked for brands including Smirnoff, Bailey’s, Kenco and Toni & Guy.

He then joined Adjust Your Set in 2013.

At We Are Social, Cossell will oversee the strategic direction for the agency’s entire client roster, which includes adidas, HSBC, Netflix and Domino’s.

Jim Coleman, We Are Social’s UK CEO, said: “Harvey’s strategic mindset and experience client-side, in planning and in content make him a perfect fit for this role. It has never been more important to have the right strategies in place for social media as platforms evolve and it gets easier to bypass marketing content. We’re delighted to welcome Harvey to the agency.”

Cossell added: “In a world where people can avoid interruptive advertising as easily as downloading adblockers or fast forwarding through TV ads, we need to get better at understanding what people actively seek out in culture.

“What I love about We Are Social is that it’s tackling this challenge head-on by creating work that people are genuinely interested in for some of the world’s best loved brands.”