The company has appointed Guy Howland (pictured, left) to the newly created role of creative director. Previously head of creative at automotive software firm GForces, he will be responsible for growing the creative department. He will be based in London and report to Azlan Raj, Merkle’s vice-president of customer experience for EMEA.

Additionally, Sarah Painter (pictured, right) has been named SEO director, also based in London. Painter, who joins from Merkle’s SEO team in the US, will lead and develop the company’s SEO offering for EMEA.

Raj said the appointments are key to the expansion of the company’s customer experience offer in EMEA. He added: “Sarah brings next-level SEO services, whilst Guy’s data-informed creative work ensures we will continue to offer high-performing solutions.”

Merkle launched its EMEA customer experience division in January last year. Recent growth includes the acquisitions of Divisadero in Spain, Oxyma in the Netherlands, and B2B digital agency DWA, which has offices in Munich and London.