It's hard to keep up with all the latest moves across media, marketing and advertising, so we've made a list. Check out the biggest moves in adland this week.
Starcom strengthens national leadership team
Starcom Australia has revealed a raft of new roles and promotions to its national leadership team. The Publicis-owned agency promoted its national strategy director Graeme Wood to the new role of national head of futures and product. Wood will lead Starcom Futures, the company's thought leadership, proprietary research and external brand perception platform. Taking over Wood’s role is Sally Christian, who formerly managed the Suncorp strategy team. She will lead the national team and work with business directors to develop client business growth.
72andSunny ECD exits
One of Australia’s top creative expats, Micah Walker, has left 72andSunny as executive creative director, after joining the agency’s Sydney office in July last year. Prior to joining, Walker has spent the past four-and-a-half years as creative director at Wieden+Kennedy Portland, where he served clients including Dodge Chrysler, Samsung, Booking.com and TurboTax. "72andSunny Sydney and Micah Walker have mutually agreed to part ways. We wish Micah all the best in the future and thank him for his creative contributions while he was with us,” a 72andSunny spokesperson said. AdNews has approached Walker for comment.
Adam Ballesty leaves Foxtel for startup
Former top Diageo marketer Adam Ballesty exited Foxtel for a role at English-founded start-up Seedlip. After six months as Foxtel's head of sport marketer, news surfaced this week of Ballesty's departure. He joins the Diageo-backed business as it looks to ramp up its presence in Australia and Asia. Based in Sydney, Ballesty will take on the general manager for the Asia Pacific region and will lead the current team of seven.
Ex-Saatchi CEO heads up new agency
Magazine publisher Pacific has launched a content and marketing agency headed up by ex-Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Simone Bartley and Emotive ECD Andrew Cameron. The new agency is called Eve and delivers “audience-inspired branded content”. Bartley, who is also a non-executive director of adland sports startup PlayersVoice, said the agency wants to grow brands at the speed of culture. Cameron comes over from branded content agency Emotive, where he has been since 2016. He's also worked at Foxtel and creative agency Now We Collide.
CHE Proximity boost leadership team
CHE Proximity has bolstered its top creative ranks with a trio of new ECD hires. Marcel ECD Wes Hawes has been hired alongside Clemenger Sydney ECD Helen James. In addition, CHE group creative director Glen Dickson has been promoted to ECD in Melbourne. In her new role James will lead the agency’s growing retail division, bringing with her more than 20 years of advertising experience in both the UK and Australia.
Carat CMO joins LinkedIn
Carat CMO Andrea Rule will join LinkedIn as head of enterprise sales for marketing solutions business in Australia and New Zealand. Rule comes from Carat, where she has been since 2017, overseeing its brand positioning and trade marketing. She has also worked across publisher and client-side over the course of her career. Prior to joining Carat, she spent five years at Yahoo7, including in the role of head of brand. In her new role she reports to LinkedIn director for marketing solutions Prue Cox.
Ex-WPP exec launches pitch consultancy
Former long-serving WPP exec Greg Graham has launched a pitch consultancy business. Graham spent more than 30 years working in various guises under the WPP banner. Graham told AdNews the venture focuses mainly around “pitch doctor” work, looking at strategic thinking, telling a compelling story, emotional stickiness, simplicity in delivery – and more.
Annalect CEO revealed
Omnicom has appointed Darren Stein as the CEO of its data and technology business Annalect for Australia and New Zealand, following his departure from IPG Mediabrands' Cadreon late last year. Stein joins Annalect with more than 18 years’ experience across analytics, research, data, tech and marketing strategy. His focus will be on further aligning and leveraging products, services and resources, as well as growth, specifically in the data and technology consulting space.
Ben Sharp exits Pureprofile for Salesforce
Ben Sharp has joined Salesforce as regional sales director for DMP and advertising technology. Sharp joins from Pureprofile where he was head of revenue and operations ANZ for six months. He had a series of short stints since being made redundant at AdRoll in 2017, going on to work at the Association for Data-Driven Marketing before joining Pureprofile. Sharp has more than 20 years of experience in senior adtech, digital marketing, publishing and advertising roles at companies including Allure Media, Yahoo! AUNZ and Yahoo!7.
Initiative bolsters strategic leadership
Initiative has added two new strategy directors to its Melbourne office, with Sam Enshaw and Mark Jones appointed strategy directors. Enshaw previously worked with IPG Mediabrands, overseeing strategy and communications planning across Asia for Spotify and Fitbit. Jones has worked across the UK and Canada in media-only and integrated agencies.
Digitas Australia names new head of media
Publicis Groupe’s Digitas has appointed James Hudson as head of media. Hudson has more than 16 years’ experience in digital, previously working at Zenith. In his new role he focuses on developing and growing the agency’s offering in Australia and New Zealand. He reports to Digitas Australia CEO Adrian Farouk.
MKTG appoints new sports marketer
Dentsu Aegis Network-owned agency MKTG has named sports marketer Blair Crouch as general manager of marketing and strategy. Crouch joins from the Moonee Valley Racing Club and has previously worked at the AFL. In his new role he focuses on driving incremental growth from MKTG’s existing marketing and creative offerings as well as developing greater capability in consulting services.
Bohemia nabs Wavemaker business director
Bohemia has named former Wavemaker group business director Jessica Torstensson as its media director. Torstensson joins with almost a decade of experience, beginning her career at Mindshare in Sweden. She’s also worked with clients such as Hungry Jacks and McDonald’s and helped launch McDelivery in Australia and New Zealand.
Bench names commercial director
Bench has appointed Esther Carlsen to the newly created role of commercial director ANZ. Esther has previously worked at Acxiom, LiveRamp and Xaxis. In her new role her focus is on enterprise brands and agency solutions, with the aim of addressing the challenge of transparency and data unification within the industry.
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