Independent media agency The MediaStore (TMS) is set to open a new office in Melbourne and has hired former ARN and Network Ten senior executive, Stephen Leeds, as its GM.
Headquartered in Melbourne, with a mandate to service the agency’s biggest clients Toyota and Lexus, and to grow the business across a variety of sectors and industries, the agency opens in January next year.
TMS has been working with Toyota for 20 years and rumours were rife as to if the agency would stay on the car brand's books once Toyota revealed it was moving to Melbourne of if they would, as expected, move south.
News of the closure of Toyota’s Sydney office and the consolidation of staff into its Melbourne residence was announced in 2014.
Leeds most recently worked at The New Daily as commercial director and prior to that was Melbourne sales director at ARN for nearly three years. Before that he was at Network Ten in various roles for 12 years.
In June AdNews reported how R/GA would be expanding its presence in Melbourne. R/GA Sydney was named digital agency of record by Toyota Motor Corporation Australia and Toyota Finance Australia at the end of last year.
The TMS team in Melbourne will be a blend of current Sydney client service managers who have elected to relocate and new talent coming in.
CEO of TMS Craig Jepsen says: “TMS has been servicing clients across retail, services, education and health sectors in the Australian market for over 20 years and we’re one of the last few remaining independent media agencies in this market.
“I like to think there’s a little magic in what we do and how we do it, and the long-term partnership with one of Australia’s most iconic brands is testament to this.”
An senior executive with 20 years of experience in advertising, television, radio and digital, Leeds has held senior media roles in GeorgePatterson Y&R Melbourne, Channel Ten and Australian Radio Network Melbourne.
In February AdNews reported how Toyota’s CMO Brad Cramb had left the business after 22 years, with Wayne Gabriel stepping up to lead the automotive brand’s marketing team. Cramb’s departure followed the closure of Toyota’s Sydney office and the consolidation of staff into its Melbourne residence, which was announced in 2014. Toyota says Cramb was unable to relocate to Melbourne and has since left the company. He later has resurfaced at Audi as the brand’s new sales director.
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