sparks & honey Taps New Chief Strategy Officer to Accelerate Its Diversification Into Consulting Services and Cultural Intelligence Products


NEW YORK, July 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- sparks & honey, an industry leader in cultural intelligence, strategy and consulting, is diversifying its offering in order to meet the demands of global organizations that require a more comprehensive view of cultural shifts, consumer behavior and potential disruptions. The evolution of sparks & honey will be led by the long-time sparks & honey executive and newly-promoted Chief Strategy Officer, Camilo La Cruz.

“Camilo has been with sparks & honey since the beginning and has helped shape this company since its inception in 2012. He is a visionary that brings curiosity, passion and a unique worldview to our work and is the perfect person to guide the future of our strategy practice at sparks & honey,” said CEO, Terry Young. In this position, La Cruz will be responsible for the long-term vision for consulting services, establishing models to connect market demand with product development, and the identification of resources and skills needed to achieve those goals.

Over the last five years, sparks & honey has evolved its core business, which uses its proprietary cultural intelligence system, Q™, to fuel innovation and marketing communication practices of Fortune 500, startups, and public-sector organizations alike. Under La Cruz’s leadership, the company will accelerate this evolution with new capabilities that allow it to expand its Global Futures and Business Transformation practices. It will also expand its Human Intelligence practice that uses social sciences and primary research methods to predict cultural shifts and connect those predictions with deep human insights. In addition to these services, the consultancy is building analytics and intelligence products that extend the capabilities of Q™ to a broader range of organizations.

“There has never been a more exciting time to work at the intersection of the present and the future,” said La Cruz. “Our expansion into transformation practices and advanced analytics products is a natural step for our young organization, and I’m thrilled to be leading this effort.”

A marketing industry thought leader, La Cruz has been with sparks & honey for over four years, most recently serving as EVP, Global Futures. In that role, he worked with clients to translate foresight into action. Prior to that, he led the content department, spearheading the development of sparks & honey’s well-known cultural forecast reports and content partnerships with leading organizations like World Economic Forum. Before joining sparks & honey, La Cruz worked across the strategy, creative and planning departments at RAPP, touching several Fortune 100 brand accounts. And spent nearly four years as a Planning Director at multicultural agency, Vidal, building the company’s digital practice. Throughout his career, La Cruz has worked with organizations such as AT&T, DARPA, Humana, Mercedes-Benz, MetLife, Nestle, PepsiCo, and Red Bull’s Human Potential Group, among others. 

La Cruz will report directly to Terry Young.

About sparks & honey: sparks & honey is a technology-based cultural consultancy delivering game-changing insights and growth strategy to businesses and organizations around the world. Leveraging a unique suite of proprietary tools, algorithms and a global network of human scouts to identify emerging cultural trends and industry shifts, sparks & honey helps organizations stay relevant - and ahead of the curve - in a fast-changing world. Recognized by Deloitte Insights for its industry defining business practices – the company was the focus of a case study in March 2018 - sparks & honey is a part of the DAS Group of Companies.

About the DAS Group of Companies
The DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), is a global group of marketing services companies. DAS includes over 200 companies in the following marketing disciplines: specialty, PR, healthcare, CRM, events, promotional marketing, branding and research. Operating through a combination of networks and regional organizations, DAS serves international, regional, national and local clients through more than 700 offices in 71 countries.

Press Contact:
Christine Perez O’Rourke
DiGennaro Communications
christine@digennaro-usa.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0544ef29-de38-4923-951e-e139c64b2068

Camilo headshot 6.28.18