LONDON — Social media specialist agency Coolr has hired former Dentsu exec Coral Crann as its first director of operations, as part of its growth plans.

Crann held various positions within Dentsu for more than 11 years, initially joining Tempero a few years before it was acquired and rebranded to ICUC, then subsequently at Dentsu X following the 2019 merger between three Dentsu brands: 360i, Fetch and ICUC.

For the past three years, Crann has acted as the senior client lead in Dentsu X’s social experience team, working across brands including William Grant & Sons, Foot Locker, Swarovski and BBC. She also played an active role in the firm’s D&I and social impact programmes.

Crann said: “After 11 years within the same group of companies, it was time for a new challenge. I have followed Coolr’s meteoric rise over the last few years and I’m looking forward to being part of the next phase of its growth.”

Coolr CEO Adam Clyne, who founded the firm in 2017 after leading Weber Shandwick’s EMEA digital function and then helping to scale the Lad Bible as COO, said: “We have ambitious growth plans and want to bring in the industry’s best talent to help get us to the next stage.

“Coral will help us to develop and implement a variety of strategic initiatives and brings a huge amount of relevant experience to help us to scale in the UK and beyond. We are delighted she is joining the team”.

Clyne said a series of new business wins and organic growth this year had led to the agency growing its headcount rapidly, with the team expected to approach 70 people by the end of this year.

This summer, Coolr expanded to the US after winning the social media account for ride sharing app Lyft.