LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FRUKT, the global marketing agency that connects brands to entertainment and pop culture, announces a new U.S. senior leadership team. Entertainment industry veteran Shirley Richter Hughes joins the agency as Managing Director, FRUKT US, Hap Deneen is promoted to Senior Vice President, FRUKT US and music industry veteran Jesus Gonzalez joins as Vice President, Music Partnerships.

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"We are thrilled to have our U.S. leadership team in place. Their collective experience, coupled with the brilliant creative and consumer experiences generated by our team, will be the standard for how brands approach entertainment partnerships," said Managing Director, FRUKT Global, Dom Hodge. "Our ability to attract and retain respected, experienced talent like Shirley, Hap and Jesus speaks volumes to the quality of FRUKT's work and the opportunities in the space."

Hughes joins FRUKT to lead all U.S. partnership and marketing operations and to continue the growth of the agency's award-winning entertainment strategy and activation services for brands including Mastercard, Cisco and Sprint. Hughes' experience includes a career spent developing and executing global entertainment marketing strategies and initiatives for numerous Fortune 100 brands including GM, Heineken and Microsoft, along with a track record of stewarding creative development and innovative partnership models. Most recently, Hughes led global client engagement efforts at Branded Entertainment Network (Corbis). Previously, she has worked at Wasserman Media Group, EastWest Creative and Paramount Pictures.

"I'm very proud to join FRUKT and to help lead the U.S. team. Their work, client roster and proven ability to connect brands and consumers through entertainment and pop culture puts FRUKT in its own category," said Hughes. "As the consumer landscape continues to shift, it's so important to offer our brand clients unique and positive ways to connect with consumers."

Hap Deneen, who has been with FRUKT for the past five years, will lead the NY office and client teams. Deneen is an experienced marketer with an expertise across the entertainment landscape and has worked closely with FRUKT's current client roster of brand clients including AB InBev, Marriott, Bank of America, Mastercard, Royal Caribbean and Sprint.

Jesus "Malverde" Gonzalez is a former artist turned label executive with more than 10 years of business development, marketing and strategy experience. His artistic background gives him keen insights on how to connect the talent and creative elements with the business side in order to create successful brand partnerships. Gonzalez was most recently the Director of Brand Partnerships for Universal Music Latin Entertainment where he cultivated strategic partnerships for the company as a whole and UMLE's diverse roster of global superstars and emerging new talent.

About FRUKT
FRUKT help brands entertain consumers and become part of a dialogue in popular culture. It takes people's passion for music and entertainment to create, develop and deliver smart, strategic campaigns and partnerships that make a genuine, measurable difference to brands. FRUKT live and breathe music, entertainment and culture. This passion inspires award-winning work for brands who believe that music and entertainment provides unrivalled potential to cut through to the heart of their audience's lives. FRUKT have offices in New York and Los Angeles, as well as the head office in London. They are part of the Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network, in the Interpublic Group. [NYSE:IPG]. www.wearefrukt.com, @FRUKT

Media contact
E: lauren@wearefrukt.com
P: +1 203 354 7453

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