Senior Hires Strengthen Strategy and Research for SS+K

New York-based ad agency SS+K has strengthened its strategy and research practice by bringing in Emily Viola, former Head of cultural strategy at agency sparks & honey; and Patrick Buckley, previously VP of Research strategy at Maslansky & Partners.

Viola (pictured) joins as MD, cultural insights and brand strategy, responsible for expanding the firm's proprietary cultural intelligence tool Social Forces, which identifies influential cultural shifts and helps client exploit them. She has worked at SS+K before, as well as at agencies including sparks & honey, BBDO and DDB.

Buckley joins as Group Director, Research and Strategy, after more than ten years at research firm Maslansky & Partners. His experience spans qual and quant in sectors including technology, pharmaceutical, CPG and financial services. At SS+K, he will be charged with building out in-house research capabilities and further integrating research, strategy and creative.

According to Kevin Skobac, who leads the firm's strategy group, 'Patrick has incredible depth of knowledge from driving research and strategy for a wide range of corporate and issues-based work to using all methodologies of research to surface critical human insights necessary for solving complex marketing challenges. Emily voraciously observes trends and evolutions and knows how to organize and synthesise shifts in behavior in a way that are insightful and actionable for brands. Together, they add amazing depth to our diverse and multi-disciplined strategy group, driving brand, business, and digital strategy for SS+K's portfolio of consumer, enterprise, and cause-oriented companies'.

Web site: www.ssk.com .