We Are Social boosts EMEA leadership with key strategic promotions

Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social has announced two promotions to its EMEA leadership team, appointing Garrett Dearey as EMEA Chief Growth Officer, and Paul Greenwood as EMEA Head of Cultural Strategy and Insight.

The new roles are designed to drive growth and build a more connected cultural strategy and insights offering in the EMEA region.

Dearey transitions from his previous role as Global Head of Growth to become the agency’s first EMEA Chief Growth Officer. He will be responsible for embedding a growth-focused mindset across EMEA, leading a new business strategy focused on global brands, and developing targeted growth plans for existing clients.

Greenwood, previously Global Head of Research & Insight, has moved into a broader role of  EMEA Head of Cultural Strategy and Insight, with both UK and EMEA responsibilities. In the UK, he will lead a unified and social-first strategy, cultural insights, research & insight and media team. In EMEA, Greenwood will drive greater collaboration across social and cultural insights teams, support on pitches and with key client relationships. He will also continue to help drive We Are Social’s global thought leadership programme, including its annual Think Forward report.

Greenwood and Dearey are both long-serving team members at We Are Social, joining in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Their promotions follow We Are Social’s shift to a regional structure in 2025, with Dearey and Greenwood joining a newly-established EMEA leadership team, led by regional CEO Jim Coleman, overseeing both We Are Social and Hello, a sister brand within the group across four EMEA markets. The team includes COO Mark Jones and local market leads in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Dubai.

Greenwood reports to UK Managing Director Lucy Doubleday, with a dotted line to Jim Coleman; Dearey reports to Coleman.

Jim Coleman, EMEA CEO at We Are Social, commented: “EMEA is our largest region and therefore our biggest opportunity for impact. Garrett has been at the helm of some of our most significant opportunities for the last decade, he’s a strategic operator who knows us, and the industry, inside out. His move represents a reset in how we approach regional growth, developing a sustainable strategy that better connects our diverse network of EMEA offices to everyone’s benefit. Paul has been an instrumental part of the evolution of the agency, bringing rigour and creativity to our approach to cultural strategy. He’s the perfect leader for a collaborative UK strategy and research team that builds modern brands, while developing our offering across EMEA.”

Dearey added: “In an agency like We Are Social – already a well known and respected name in the industry – there are huge opportunities to grow simply by operating in a more connected and strategic way. By embedding this mindset across EMEA, we’re setting the benchmark for sustainable growth.”

Greenwood said: “By working more closely as a strategic unit in the UK, and becoming better connected as an EMEA region, we’ll be perfectly placed to help brands grow and move at the speed that social demands.”

Source: We Are Social

  Agency, Appointment, Chief Growth Officer, Garrett Dearey, Head of Cultural Strategy and Insight, Paul Greenwood, Promotion, We Are Social