Dive summary: 

• There are a number of recruits hired in the past 18 months in digital-media shops, ad agencies, tech companies, and brands that are already making their mark; 8 in particular really stand out. [see full list at AdAge]
• Topping the list is Marissa Mayer, one of the pioneers at Google, that joined Yahoo as CEO and has been able to revive the floundering company's stock prices. 
• Other notable hires include Kelly Bennett, CMO of Netflix; Caity Weaver, writer at Gawker; and JP Maheu, CEO at Bluefin Labs. 

From the article:

"It's a roundup of new recruits -- some widely known, some not -- who are pushing the ball forward at tech companies, digital-media shops, agencies and brands. We chose to focus on talent recruited recently (within the past 18 months) into existing organizations. We excluded hires that were too new, though. (For instance, Google made a fascinating choice in naming revered futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil as its new director of engineering, but he started only in December, so we'll give him some time and see what he ends up doing.)"