This first appeared in the AdNews April 2019 magazine and is part of a new feature AdNews introduced last year called Spotlight. Support AdNews by subscribing here.
From his early start as a marketer, to working in creative agencies, then managing his own business and now running one of Australia’s largest media agencies, head of Wavemaker, Peter Vogel, has certainly made his mark on the industry.
Wavemaker CEO, Peter Vogel, known in the industry for his larger than life personality, big hands and little quirks, has always been motivated by the next challenge.
Whether it’s building a business, redeveloping an agency position in market or managing the merger of two global powerhouses, Vogel doesn’t shy away from a tough task.
Insiders describe his work ethic, loyalty to his staff, and his commitment to the growth of the Wavemaker business as some of his most notable traits.
The former surfer–turned media boss, hailing from the South African ocean–side town of East London, has grown into one of the most respected and boisterous agency CEOs in adland.
Spending his youth playing rugby, or just about any other sport, and surfing on weekends, Vogel described his early life in the 70s and 80s as an exciting time to grow up.
After high school, he found himself in the same place many do, unsure of the next move.
So, Vogel decided on Rhodes University in South Africa, studying a Bachelor of Commerce, with a focus on marketing. It was here that he met his now–wife Lynn, who was studying social sciences. They would go on to have their daughter Hannah, who, like her father, has plans to study marketing.
When finishing university, Vogel described his internship options as “typical” as he applied for both a brewery and an automotive brand. He also applied for a grocery brand, with hopes the other two would come in first.
“I was really pulling for South African Breweries, which was known to be one of the world’s biggest breweries. Or cars, a typical guy, not very creative,” he said.
“I landed at Volkswagen and ended up working on Audi as a graduate trainee, which gave me a few months in every department such as advertising, research, product planning and management.”
Vogel was drawn to the advertising department, then known as marketing services, and eventually became Audi’s marketing manager. At this point, he was faced with a tough decision, stay “an auto guy” or challenge himself and move into another sector of the industry.
Vogel switched, joining Audi’s then creative agency, Ogilvy, becoming a group business director and managing a variety of clients. Here, Vogel explained, is where he fell in love with the agency world, finding it more liberating than the typical corporate environment.
“While what I did with VW was great, agencies were doing a lot of things, obviously the creative but also media was in–house, as was CRM, PR and research,” he said. “It was a proper full service agency and the ‘jewel’ in the Ogilvy crown.”
Working across multiple clients, he would soon find himself adopting the mantle of Mr Fix–It within the agency world, putting out fires and repairing client relationships.
Vogel said being that type of agency director allowed him to understand exactly what clients looked for and what they meant when they asked for something, but “actually wanted something completely different”.
Wavemaker team
Catching the media bug
Eventually, Vogel moved to the media side of the business as the rise of independent agencies, such as Mindshare and OMD, began.
It was at this time he and business partner, Jim Taylor, saw an opportunity to go out on their own and launch a media strategy agency which, he said, was one of the first of its type in the world.
Called Nota Bene, the business was focused on delivering channel–neutral comms plans that put customer engagement up front. Landing Diageo and Unilever as their first clients, Vogel and Taylor swiftly grew the business, hiring multiple senior planners.
“Because we just did the strategy part, we were totally channel agnostic and completely transparent, not influenced by any earning of commissions,” he said.
“We found ourselves front and central to the planning process across all their brands, so looking at the portfolio of brands and then still working with multiple creative agencies, and that was a fantastic experience.”
Then, like any successful business, conversations around acquisitions began, as a media business known as Chris Ingram and Associates (CIA) turned their attention to Nota Bene.
Vogel said at this point CIA was on an “acquisition drive”, picking up multiple businesses throughout South Africa and Nota Bene had now built a strong client base.
CIA had also recently bought a business known as Added Value, a team made up of former Unilever employees. Vogel recalled them approaching him and Taylor to join the business, which was building a strategy, brand identity and independent media network.
However, within 12 months of joining CIA, it was acquired by WPP, pulling Vogel back into the expanding holding group.
The MEC movement
WPP continued with the Nota Bene name, due to its strong reputation in market, but also put Vogel in charge of running MEC. Managing two businesses at once, while a great opportunity, eventually led him to search for something else.
Vogel would start what would become a common trend of his career — managing and moving between key MEC markets. He was apprehensive when he took on the chief strategy officer role for MEC in APAC. His strength at the time was not in that area; that was Taylor’s during their time running Nota Bene.
The advantage and challenge that came with the role, Vogel said, was that it was the first of its kind for MEC and there was no clear direction or even a job description.
“Charles Courtier, who was global CEO at the time, said they weren’t looking for me to go and do media strategy, they wanted me to diversify the brand’s products in the region, which suited my experience far better,” Vogel explained.
“There were those initial frustrations, and I had an expectation of moving the business faster than what it was. However, it really suited my attitude of not taking ‘the well–trodden path’ and we managed to achieve some great growth in the region over time.”
With Vogel continuing to build his status in APAC as the executive willing to take on the tough challenges, sure enough, another would come banging on his office door.
What would be different about this opportunity is that it would ultimately lead him to his new home, Australia. Tasked with heading up the Australian business, Vogel would be met with what he described as one of the “biggest challenges and proudest successes” of his career.
Not only because of the struggling nature of the MEC business in Australia, but because he would step into the role just as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) began.
“We weren’t doing particularly well and it was very much a rebuild job and that’s what I focused on, obviously starting with bringing the right talent in, offering them much more meaningful, strategic relationships to our clients,” Vogel said.
“What you couldn’t prepare for was taking a position like that at the same time as the GFC. It was incredible in a way because those bigger macro challenges strengthen you as a leader.
“At the time they aren’t fun to live through, but doing so helps you with smaller, more micro changes such as to always remain positive and accept that these things happen. But, then it’s how you react, how you nurture your talent, how you refocus them and redirect them.”
Peter Vogel and his uni surfing team
Welcoming in Wavemaker
Vogel managed to develop the agency into one of the big players in Australia. He opened offices in Brisbane and Melbourne, and eventually in Auckland, as MEC began to carve out its place as one of the top–tier agencies in the GroupM stable.
After seven years of rebuilding MEC Australia, Vogel was then tapped to return to APAC, taking over as the region’s CEO, operating out of Hong Kong. The priority was to fix China and get closer to the GroupM central management based in Hong Kong, but he “had a rebuild scenario once again”.
Vogel appointed a lot of new market CEOs and then oversaw all 16 markets in the Asia Pacific. During plans to accelerate growth, MEC and sister agency, Maxus, merged. Vogel helped build the new entity, Wavemaker, appointing new market leadership and “re–engineering” each team.
As Wavemaker grew, offers to take over in other regions cropped up, with talks of Europe and possibly London.
However, for Vogel the old adage stands, “home is where the heart is”. With his daughter nearing the end of high school and missing Australia, the decision to head–up operations from Sydney was an easy one.
Returning to Australia just over a year ago, Vogel now leads one of the biggest media agencies, with a team of 340 across Australia and New Zealand. The agency has also secured major accounts over the last 12 months, including Indian ride sharing platform and Uber rival, Ola, plus Beats, Stratton and Huawei.
Will it always be media?
The short answer is “yes”. Vogel said he loves coming into work every day, drawing “energy and excitement” from everyone in the organisation.
“Working with smart, passionate people that I learn from every day, be it, someone who is 23 or someone who is 33 — that’s something special,” he said.
“Just to be surrounded by those who want to push the boundaries, who know there’s no limitation, and in our industry, there’s always this idea to find a better and different way to do something, and that’s what inspires me.”
That’s not to say the role as one of Australia’s leading media agency bosses is an easy one, and Vogel makes no secret that there are still a lot of challenges facing the industry he is so passionate about.
Broader macro trends, including economic instability and concerns over potential and dreaded recessions, the housing crash and the usual confusion that accompanies an election year are all something any leader needs to be aware of, according to Vogel.
From an industry perspective, he also keeps a close eye on the advancement of e–commerce and direct–to–consumer sales, all of which are having an impact on how the agency operates. Add the constant and unrelenting fragmentation of audiences, the rise of technology, and the need to manage all of these changes effectively, and the role of a media CEO is no walk in the park.
However, Vogel said there is still one over–riding challenge that continues to remain at the forefront of his mind — trust. More specifically, rebuilding trust.
“It’s always about trust and proving that we are a valuable, strategic partner that can help clients in developing their communications,” he said.
“We also need to continue proving a fair value exchange, which is obviously tied into areas such as procurement and remuneration.”
Vogel said media agencies don’t get enough credit for how they’ve evolved over the years - having successfully “navigated the transition” from an analogue world to a digital one while also developing services beyond paid, traversing into owned, earned and shared communications.
“This evolution means, that as a media agency, we are effectively setting up new startups continuously — developing new service offerings, recruiting new diverse talent sets, and integrating this into our businesses to remain the experts in consumer understanding and engagement,” Vogel said.
“This industry provides a new exciting opportunity every day and I ask, who wouldn’t want to be part of this?” 
Peter Vogel and a quiver of surfboards
Wavemaker Sydney head of investment Philippa Noilea-Tani:
Peter has always had a strong focus on people and their development. Peter has supported me throughout my career and enabled me to develop from a TV buyer to my current position of Sydney head of investment. He has also been very supportive and offered great flexibility as I embarked on a family and had my three lovely children. This support and balance has helped drive my career development at MEC / Wavemaker. He is a great colleague and mentor.
Nine chief sales officer Michael Stephenson:
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Peter for over 10 years. He is without a doubt one of Australia’s leading CEOs — he continues to challenge his clients and his media partners to think “creatively and strategically” to find new solutions for brands. However, while his ability and track record both here and abroad is impressive, it’s his personality that has made him such a great friend of so many people in our industry.
WPP executive chairman media investment management John Steedman:
Peter is a world–class operator, building MEC into a strong and well–respected business in Australia. Staff developed a strong and respected rapport with Peter, which came down to him nurturing a strong agency culture and expanding the client roster. We welcomed Peter back home with open arms as he was the ideal person to run the Wavemaker business, after his successful stint running MEC APAC.
Hungry Jack’s CMO Scott Baird:
I’ve worked with Peter as a client in two different markets, South Africa and Australia. What I respect about Peter, and the agencies he runs, is that the first priority is developing the strategy to grow a client’s brands and businesses. He also follows through with best–in–class execution. Both businesses I worked at I enjoyed long–standing relationships with Peter and his agencies. I’m delighted he’s back in Australia leading Wavemaker and we enjoy a strong business partnership with them.
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