Andrew Soar returns to Unity as engagement chief

Andrew Soar has returned to Unity to take on the newly created role of head of engagement, nearly two years after moving to Shine Communications, as associate creative director.

Soar (pictured left) previously worked at Unity for more than three years before moving to consumer PR agency Shine as associate creative director. In January, consumer PR firm The Academy merged with Shine to form a new group called The Academy, with Shine becoming its consumer PR arm.

He returns to Unity in the newly created role of head of engagement, and will work on accounts including M&S, Direct Line and Butlin’s.

Soar said: “Unity is an agency with brilliant clients and an unparalleled history of creating incredible work. I’m tremendously proud to have been part of that DNA and heritage and it’s going to be an exciting time to see where we can go in the future.

“This new role will be as challenging as it will be exhilarating and I can’t wait to share this adventure with my new team.”

Soar’s return comes alongside the appointment of John Carolan (pictured right) as Unity’s first planning director.

With more than 12 years’ experience in strategic comms, Carolan spent the last four years as lead strategist on “digital-centric” clients at global media network Carat. Before that, he worked as planning manager at media agency Mindshare.

In his new role at Unity, Carolan will work across the agency’s portfolio of consumer clients, with a focus on audience insight, comms strategy and storytelling, as well as work on new business opportunities.

Carolan said: “This new role offers a huge scope for creativity and innovation, and I’m looking forward to contributing to the portfolio of such a vibrantly creative agency.”

Gerry Hopkinson, co-founder of Unity, said: “We couldn’t be happier to welcome back Andrew and introduce John to this new role at Unity. John’s impressive portfolio of clients and campaigns show his deep understanding of human behaviour and his experience in digital planning is unparalleled in our industry. Andrew’s wealth of experience spearheading campaigns for global clients places him as one of the industry’s leading influencers – we’re delighted to welcome him back.”