Who We Are

The Leadership Team

We're proud of our multi-disciplined and diverse leadership team

Luke Townsin
‍‍‍‍‍Chief Growth Officer

Luke started off his career in agency land when ‘Lycos’ and ‘Excite’ were still a thing. Luckily the internet got a bit more interesting and he somehow managed to land a job at Twitter as one of its first international employees. He formed part of the team that launched its UK ad business and went on to develop Twitter’s international presence working in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His last role involved launching a creator services platform, Niche, internationally - building its team and revenue operation outside of the US.

Andrea Wong
‍‍‍‍‍Member of the Board

Andrea was previously President International for Sony Pictures Entertainment based in London. She oversaw Sony Pictures Television’s 18 overseas production companies, creating nearly 1,300 hours of entertainment around the world each year. Among her many achievements in this role, Andrea excitingly was instrumental in the creation of the TV series The Crown. She is also a Governor of the British Film Institute, and a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Victoria Bachan
‍‍‍‍‍Managing Director, Whalar Stars

Victoria is an experienced and creative talent manager who has helped launch brands, tours, and careers for some of the entertainment industry’s most interesting personalities and artists.
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After starting her career working for the producers of Coachella and Governor's Ball, Victoria moved on to work for the company that produced the largest, longest-running music festival in North America, the Vans Warped Tour. Joining Whalar in 2020, Victoria is leading the global expansion and reputation of Whalar Stars.

Jo Cronk
‍‍‍‍‍Managing Director, North America

With over 15 years media agency experience, Jo has lead holistic marketing strategy and investment strategy for global brands including Boots/Walgreens, Cadbury/Mondelez, PepsiCo and Warner Bros. In 2013, Jo moved from London to New York and prior to joining Whalar was a Business Lead at PHD leading multiple high-profile new business pitches, managing HBO and incubator start-up brands, responsible for Billings in excess of $150MM.

Niko Croskery
‍‍‍‍‍Chief Product and Innovation Officer

Niko was a member of the founding team of Whalar and is now responsible for all things product and tech. Hailing from the land of the long white cloud, Niko started his career as a commercial M&A lawyer in both NZ and the UK, before starting his own software and consultancy company. He has been involved with many tech & ecommerce startups, providing business, legal, strategy, product and marketing advice to over 300 clients in 13 countries.

Bob Greenberg
‍‍‍‍‍Vice Chairman of the Board

Bob, alongside his brother, founded the agency R/GA in 1977. R/GA now has 18 offices globally and over 2,000 employees. It has evolved from a world-class movie title shop, to a digital studio, to a major digital advertising agency, and today, to an all-in-one full-service agency.

Emma Harman
‍‍‍‍‍Managing Director, EMEA

Emma has over 15 years experience as a sales and marketing leader. Prior to Whalar, Emma set up and led Universal Music Group’s Commercial Partnerships division pairing exceptional A-List music talent with global brands. She went on to join Talenthouse where she launched and managed the platform which is home to over 1M creators, with investors including ProSiebenSat1 and Reliance Communications. Emma’s career blends the worlds of advertising, creativity, technology and culture.

John Hegarty
‍‍‍‍‍Chairman of the Board

John is one of the world’s most awarded and respected Ad Men. For over six decades, he has been at the forefront of the creative advertising industry from the early days of Saatchi and Saatchi, to founding the global company Bartle Bogle and Hegarty.

Rob Horler
‍‍‍‍‍President & COO

Rob founded his own agency, which was the largest digital media agency in the UK between 2004 and 2008. He subsequently sold the business to Dentsu and went on to be the CEO of Dentsu Aegis in Northern Europe and then transferred to be their US CEO in 2015. During that time, Rob oversaw operations of some 25 companies, 14,000 employees and revenues of almost 2 billion dollars. He also oversaw the M&A activity for the US and was responsible for acquiring 9 companies. Most recently he was COO at Quantcast, a Silicon Valley based global ad tech leader.

James Street
‍‍‍‍‍Co-Founder

Dropping out of University in 2006 with Neil Waller, James co-founded their first business together. After a string of successful projects, the pair soon launched Shore Projects, a watch brand inspired by the British seaside which in its first year alone sold in over 30 countries. Noticing a key shift in the way consumers connected with brands, they were able to grow Shore using social media creative and influence. Rapid growth led to awards and recognition - one such prize being a week on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson.
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On Necker Island, the idea for Whalar was born.

Roxanne Taylor
‍‍‍‍‍Member of the Board

Roxanne served as CMO of Accenture for over 10 ten years and has had a significant role in growing the company into one of the world’s leading brands. During her career Roxanne has been named among Forbes’ ‘World’s Most Influential CMOs’, selected as a ‘Change the Game’ Award Winner by Advertising Women of New York and is also on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council and a member of the Marketing 50 (M50).

Heena Angarawala
‍‍‍‍‍Chief Financial Officer

An accomplished and results-driven finance executive with an MBA degree and 20 years experience in the advertising industry working with start-ups, in-house agencies, as well as global multi-billion dollar holding companies.

Neil Waller
‍‍‍‍‍Co-Founder

Dropping out of University in 2006 with James Street, Neil co-founded their first business together. After a string of successful projects, the pair soon launched Shore Projects, a watch brand inspired by the British seaside which in its first year alone sold in over 30 countries.Noticing a key shift in the way consumers connected with brands, they were able to grow Shore using social media creative and influence. Rapid growth led to awards and recognition - one such prize being a week on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson.
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On Necker Island, the idea for Whalar was born.

Victoria Bachan

Managing Director of Whalar Stars

Jo Cronk

Managing Director, North America

Niko Croskery

Chief Product and Innovation Officer

Bob Greenberg

Vice Chairman of the Board

Emma Harman

Managing Director, EMEA

John Hegarty

Chairman of the Board

Rob Horler

President & COO

James Street

Co Founder

Roxanne Taylor

Board Member

Luke Townsin

Chief Growth Officer

Heena Agrawala

Chief Finance Officer

Neil Waller

Co Founder

Andrea Wong

Board Member