Former Forsman & Bodenfors CEO Toby Southgate joins We Are Social as global CEO

 We Are Social has appointed Toby Southgate as its global group chief executive officer.

Southgate was previously global chief executive at Forsman & Bodenfors, which he left last October after three years at the Stagwell agency.

The position at We Are Social became available after co-founder Nathan McDonald stepped down in October after 16 years. Brett Marchand, the chief executive of We Are Social’s parent Plus Company, assumed the role of interim group chief executive, with McDonald acting as a strategic adviser for the next six months.

Alongside Southgate, who is based in the UK and began his current assignment on February 3, the global leadership team includes Mobbie Nazir as global chief strategy officer, Chris Adamson as global chief operations officer, Silvia Mauri as global people officer and Emma Cumming as global culture director.

Regional market leads that report to Southgate include Jim Coleman as UK CEO and Rebecca Coleman as North American CEO.

Marchand said, “I believe that Toby’s experience in leading multinational agencies to growth, combined with an exceptional leadership team at We Are Social, will be the winning combination to unlock the agency’s full potential. 

“Toby’s passion for creating a culture where people are a priority so they can thrive and do their best work was clear from the outset. He’s a first-class leader who will help steer We Are Social steadfastly into the next stage in its evolution.” 

As global group CEO, he will “evolve [We Are Social’s] ways of working across its people, work and clients”. This entails growing its socially led creative work, including collaboration with influencers and creators. The shop's next phase of growth will focus on paid social and measurement, supported by Plus Company.

We Are Social’s client roster includes Samsung, Amazon Music, Starbucks, Adidas, Activision, Netflix and Booking.com.

Southgate said, “I’ve long admired We Are Social. It led the way by recognising the power of social and digital platforms for brands at scale and, as a result, it’s the only truly global agency in its space. 

“We’ll be expanding our offering as the world’s most creative social agency, in partnership with what is undeniably a stellar roster of clients. The energy and appetite for growth and evolution with the network is really compelling. The role was very easy to accept.”

Prior to Forsman & Bodenfors, he was global chief growth officer at McCann WorldGroup, also serving as the company's regional director and chief client officer across Europe and the UK. Before this, Southgate spent 10 years at WPP's brand consulting unit, Brand Union.

Southgate will lead the social agency’s team of 1,200 people across four continents: Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. 

James Denton-Clark replaced Southgate as global CEO of Forsman & Bodenfors.