LONDON—Dean Russell, former EMEA creative strategy director at Lewis PR, has launched a new consultancy to help brands and agencies combine expertise in data insights, creative communications and business strategy. epifny consulting will employ its IDEA (Insights, Data-led strategy, Education and Action) methodology to help organisations leverage value by optimising their in-house services or by developing profitable new offerings. The new consultancy will also offer services including audits, strategy development, data analytics and mentoring and training.

LONDON—Hill+Knowlton Strategies has hired Jessi Langsen to head the content and publishing approach for its healthcare sector. Langsen joins H+K London from the firm’s chicago office, where she was vice president of social media. Prior to H+K, she managed national social media content for the Obama for America 2012 campaign.

LONDON—Cohn & Wolfe has appointed Tom Malcolm as its new managing director of consumer marketing for the UK. Reporting to Rebecca Grant, managing director UK, and Scott Wilson, UK CEO and managing director, EMEA, Malcolm joins Cohn & Wolfe from Diffusion, where he was director and head of consumer, overseeing the agency’s UK consumer, travel and leisure portfolio. 

BELFAST—Belfast-based PR and content agency Smarts Communicate has opened a new office in London. The agency works with clients including British Airways, BT, Lidl, Johnnie Walker and Guinness across more than 20 countries. The London office will be led by managing partner Helen Rainford, previously consumer creative director at Good Relations and formerly associate board director at Cake.

LONDON—Puja Darbari has joined salt as business unit director, corporate. Most recently, Darbari was the UK strategy director at charity Barnardo’s, and before that she was an account director at B-Corp Forster and served as press secretary to two leaders of the Liberal Democrats (Menzies Campbell and Vince Cable).

LONDON—Edinburgh-based craft brewer Innis & Gunn (pictured) has appointed Manifest as its global communications agency. The agency has developed a brand strategy and communications plan to be delivered across the company's key markets: US, Sweden, Canada and the UK. Manifest will be creating a suite of toolkits to support the brewer's international expansion.

LONDON—Global voice, video and collaboration provider Fuze has appointed Wildfire as its European communications agency. Wildfire is working with Fuze’s media agency Pulse, providing the market insight and creative content to drive communications and lead generation activities across all earned, owned, shared and paid platforms. The remit initially covers the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Nordics.