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.
Jo Feeney departs McDonald's for Michael Hill
Senior marketer Jo Feeney has departed her role at McDonald's to join jewellery business Michael Hill as its chief marketing officer. Feeney was with McDonald's for seven and a half years. She joined the company in 2013 as national marketing manager before being promoted to director of marketing in 2015. Prior to her time at McDonald's, Feeney has held senior marketing roles at Foxtel, Telstra and Vividwireless.
Samantha Armytage quits Sunrise
Samantha Armytage is stepping down from her role as co-host of Seven’s Sunrise after eight years. Armytage announced her decision to leave saying she wanted to “calm things down”. Before stepping in as co-host in 2013, replacing Melissa Doyle, Armytage worked on Weekend Sunrise for seven years and has spent more than 17 years at Seven in total.
DDB elevates Lindsay Bennett to global role
Brittney Rigby has joined DDB Group Australia as head of communications and new business as Lindsay Bennett is promoted to global head of marketing for DDB Worldwide. In recognition of her success in Australia, Bennett has been promoted to global head of marketing for DDB Worldwide and plans to relocate to New York later this year. In the newly created role, Bennett will lead the marketing function for DDB globally, spanning 200 offices in 90 countries. Prior to her time with DDB Group Australia, Bennett worked as a journalist and digital editor at AdNews. In Rigby’s new role, she will lead internal and external communications as well as business development across DDB Group nationally, including Tribal, Track, Mango, Interbrand and DDB Remedy.
The Media Store's new head of strategy
The Media Store has appointed Aliya Hasan to the newly created role of head of strategy. Hasan has more than 15 years’ experience as a strategist and has worked with clients including the AFL, Asahi Beverages, Twinings, BMW, MINI, Sukin and MYOB. Prior to joining The Media Store, Hasan was in a consulting role with Havas Melbourne and has also held senior positions at UM and Vizeum where she was national head of strategic planning.
Verizon Media adds to Simon Wheeler's remit
Verizon Media has announced the promotion of Simon Wheeler to senior director of content following significant growth of Verizon Media’s Australian media brands. Under his new regional remit Wheeler will lead editorial strategy in English-language regions including Australia, India and South-East Asia. Editorial teams in India and across South East Asia will now report into Wheeler under the new structure. Over the past four years Wheeler has led the editorial strategy in Australia, managing teams to deliver quality content, diversify audiences and achieve substantial growth.
DDB's Rhian Mason joins Emotive
Creative agency Emotive has appointed Rhian Mason as head of content distribution. Mason joins Emotive from the DDB Group where she led social strategy and content for Mango Communications and DDB Sydney, delivering integrated strategy, social, and influencer expertise within PR and creative disciplines. Prior to DDB Mason worked for IPG Mediabrands in Sydney and London, establishing the branded content offerings and leading a team of specialists to deliver work across social media, influencers, and native advertising partnerships. Mason will lead Emotive’s content distribution offering which focuses on social and earned media, combining creative integrity with deep platform understanding.
Special Group expands Melbourne
Independent creative company Special Group Australia has welcomed creative duo Matt Bladin and Phoebe Sloane to its Melbourne office. Sloane and Bladin join the agency following a two-and-a-half-year stint at CHE Proximity Melbourne, where they worked on brands including Mazda, Flybuys, AGL, Telstra, RACV and Latitude Financial. After finishing first place in AWARD School, Sloane held positions at Wunderman Thompson, Ogilvy and CHE Proximity. Bladin, who also finished in the top 10 at AWARD School, is the national chair of Youngbloods and played a pivotal role, alongside Sloane, in launching ongoing resources for the industry such as Asking For a Friend, The Trenches Regional Mentorship Program.
Orchard promotes Mikaela Crimmins
Digital and tech creative agency Orchard has promoted Mikaela Crimmins to head of strategy. Crimmins will head up the experience team, bringing together disciplines such as product, service design, data, branding, social and content. Crimmins has been in the communications industry for more than 10 years, crafting global and national strategies for healthcare B2B tech and finance. Crimmins came to Orchard from Ogilvy, where she had strategically led key clients such as Optus and Coca-Cola.
Bastion continues US expansion
Independent Australian communications group Bastion has welcomed James Wharton to the new role, general manager of Bastion Elevate in the US. Wharton has previously held senior agency roles leading major integrated accounts across clients such as Porsche, Mazda, The North Face and Mattel. Also joining the Bastion team in the US are new recruits including Danial Aparicio, Bastion db5 analyst; Olivia Riley, Bastion Elevate PR account manager; and Jessie Write, Bastion Elevate social media and client success manager.
Ex-Kantar boss to advise TVSquared
Global cross-platform TV ad measurement business TVSquared has announced that former Kantar Media global CEO Andy Brown has accepted an advisory role with the company. Brown will provide strategic counsel to TVSquared’s board and executive team. Brown spent nearly half of his career in CEO roles, and is regarded as a preeminent leader in media measurement. From 2013 to 2020, Brown helped Kantar develop its media business and played a key role in the acquisition of TNS PLC and, subsequently, the sale of its majority stake to Bain Capital. During his tenure, he also led expansion of services into more than 50 markets worldwide.
Deepend extends data analytics capabilities
Independent digital communications and innovation consultancy group Deepend Group has bolstered its team with the appointment of Dane Kloos to the newly created role of performance lead. A data and analytics specialist, Kloos brings over a decade of industry experience and will be focused on growing the agency group’s performance analytics and product offerings – across both the core agencies Deepend, History Will Be Kind and Nomad, alongside the owned product development practice, Collective Ventures.
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