Marketing communications agency Wray Ward has grown its digital team, hiring Lucas Weber to the new position of digital content strategist, and Justin Holt and Trevor Plassman as digital developers. The agency also promoted John Manning to development lead. This in-house team is known for building award-winning applications, platforms and other online tools that engage users and fuel brands.

“Our digital team is tasked with creating beautiful yet functional user experiences and interfaces by capitalizing on the latest technological, measurement and user-experience trends,” said Josh Ashton, creative director for digital platforms at Wray Ward. “They bring a great deal of relevant experience and strategic thinking to their roles, resulting in exceptional work that performs at a high level. We are excited to introduce new talent to this team and to recognize those who have produced phenomenal work for the agency and our clients’ brands.”

As the agency’s digital content strategist, Weber leads content strategy efforts for online platforms and other digital properties. At the onset of a digital project, Weber spearheads discovery efforts and conducts strategy meetings where the team clearly defines project goals and target audiences, identifies content assets and gaps, and determines platform requirements. He then works with the digital team to develop a plan to achieve those goals and monitors the remainder of the project to ensure all work aligns with original goals, essentially serving as a conduit between content creators and web designers. Prior to joining Wray Ward, Weber worked with an array of clients, ranging from NASCAR and Richard Petty Driving Experience to Duke Energy, Bojangles’ and CPI Security. Weber’s digital platform projects have garnered recognition from the Awwwards as “Sites of the Day” and were featured in Communication Arts. Weber graduated from Clemson University with an undergraduate degree in psychology and later earned his Juris Doctor degree from Pace University School of Law.

Holt joined Wray Ward as a digital developer with more than 16 years of experience under his belt. He works primarily in front-end development with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. He has extensive experience with front-end build systems and enjoys the internal creative development process. Prior to joining the agency, Holt worked for and on behalf of brands like Cirque du Soleil, Domtar Cougar, Principal Group and SEPI Engineering. Holt is a past winner of the America Web Design Award by Graphic Design. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a bachelor of science in information systems and operations management.

Plassman joined the agency as a digital developer with five years of experience and a unique background in engineering, software development, and both front- and back-end web development. Most recently, he ran his own development firm in Asheville; previously, he built large-scale web applications at Waywire, a New York City-based startup. Plassman is also an inventor – he holds one U.S. patent and has another seven patent applications pending. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Engineering with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. Plassman made the Dean’s List every semester and graduated Summa Cum Laude.

After two years with Wray Ward, Manning stepped into the role of development lead. Manning excels as a developer and a leader and is responsible for guiding development practices across all digital projects. He continues to serve as the primary developer on several large client projects. His talent, leadership and collaborative nature will be key moving forward as Wray Ward continues to build its digital offerings. Manning earned a bachelor of arts in studio art from Wake Forest University.