In his new role, Coats will lead a team of 5 SEO specialists and be responsible for business development, product development, client strategy and innovation alongside Ben Bale who joins the agency in October as SEO strategist. He will report to Stuart Beckingham, national group director of search at the agency.
Previously, Coats developed advanced and innovative SEO strategies for Accor Hotels, Barclays, Suncorp, AAMI, and Cheap Flights.
“My belief is that search sits at the heart our communication strategies and SEO as a specialism is critical to driving real business results for our clients," noted Beckingham.
He added that the strong growth in the agency's search business has been largely a result of providing its clients integrated solutions which allows it to use vital data and insights to support ongoing optimisation of not only its clients' search campaigns but offline and online media channels.