As our leaders rise to the challenge of a turbulent year, it’s time to celebrate the next wave of champions who will steer the industry. Here we announce who made this year’s AdNews 20 Emerging Leaders list. (Originally published in the AdNews September/October magazine. Subscribe here to make sure you get your copy.)
The Emerging Leaders program recognises those who have forged a path to become the industry’s next leaders. To make the cut this year, nominees needed to demonstrate key achievements, effective problem solving to overcome challenges, and contributions to the industry beyond their daily role. Judges were impressed by the calibre of entries, with strong candidates demonstrating a commitment to business outcomes and social change.
The winner of the Emerging Leader award -- selected from six finalists -- will be announced at the AdNews Agency of The Year Awards (February 4, 2022). They will receive a year’s subscription to AdNews, two tickets to an AdNews Live of their choice, and an executive coaching program of six coaching sessions from The Transition Coach, with an opportunity to work on their professional goals and leadership development.
The AdNews 20 Emerging Leaders of 2021:
Mandie van der Merwe (Finalist)
M&C Saatchi executive creative director
Mandie was promoted to executive creative director of M&C Saatchi in January 2019. Her creative leadership for Tourism Australia, Commonwealth Bank, BIG W and BWS demonstrates the scope and depth of her work, and she has collected more than 200 awards at shows including Cannes, D&AD and AdNews. Beyond her creative contribution, Mandie has always been committed to training and mentoring young talent in the industry. She is the national head of Award School, served as a lecturer in South Africa, and judged and mentored Cannes Young Lions in 2019 and 2020. The judges said: “Mandie stands out as not only a leader in her craft but in her dedication and commitment to creating a culture of diversity in her agency and industry — giving her time to educate others and support the industry as a whole.”
Jin Subasinghe
Network 10 group sales manager
Jin is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion at 10 ViacomCBS. Her work in this space includes being the market representative for Australia in the ViacomCBS Equity & Inclusion Global Task Force. Jin is also a regular contributor as both speaker and mentor at NGEN events, willing to give up her time to foster aspiring leaders for the industry. One of Jin’s major career achievements has been her involvement in the onboarding and effective selling of 10 ViacomCBS content, namely across the Nickelodeon and 10 Shake platforms, resulting in an increase in revenue across these channels and the early achievement of budget. The judges said: “Jin demonstrates strong career growth combined with external industry initiatives.”
Hamish McPhee
Twitch account sales director
Hamish became the first Twitch hire in Melbourne in 2020, responsible for driving growth in one of Australia’s most competitive markets. Hamish has successfully scaled the business and achieved triple-digital YOY growth, unlocking new advertising categories and customers despite the global COVID-19 pandemic. Outside his immediate role, Hamish is the founder of ‘Queers in Media’, a new industry group aimed at creating an inclusive place for queer persons and allies to create cross-business connections with a focus on networking, mentoring and focused charity work in Melbourne. The judges said: “Hamish has clearly been a high performer within a large and highly successful business. Furthermore, he has demonstrated that he is contributing to the industry above and beyond his day role.”
Jenni Hayward (Finalist)
Little Colossus general manager
Jenni is the driving force behind the industry’s first ever social enterprise product, Mood. Created under UnLtd’s Little Colossus, proceeds from the bespoke tea range contribute to funding youth mental health projects. After seven months of long hours and pulling in favours, Jenni coordinated the launch campaign of Mood in February 2021, recruiting four agencies across creative, media and PR to work on the project as well as securing media inventory from partners to push the launch. In addition to this, Jenni has spent the past three years expanding and enhancing UnLtd’s work including building its event portfolio and galvanising support for industry workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The judges said: “Jenni’s leadership qualities have created a huge impact upon an entire industry. No mean feat at all and one which should be admired, recognised and applauded.”
Adam Steward (Finalist)
Havas Media head of performance
Adam is a transformative business leader who has successfully repositioned and grown the performance media capabilities of Havas Media Australia during the past four years. This includes integrating Havas Media’s paid search, SEO, content, UX, and analytics offering to create a capability that delivered measurable business outcomes for clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Adam also provided 30 hours of free consultancy to help equip startups with the best chance of success. The judges said: “Adam clearly shows and demonstrates what an emerging leader should look like. He has built a highly successful team and leads from the heart in a human and empathetic way. Furthermore, he has contributed not just to the industry but also to the community by giving his services to small businesses in a time of real need.”
Minsun Collier (Finalist)
MediaCom national head of digital
Minsun started as national head of digital at MediaCom just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Her experience in agency operations, combined with her people management skills, put her in good stead to meet the challenge of her new role. She revolutionised the quality of digital marketing products and united a team of 80 digital specialists across three markets. Her knowledge and expertise spans all facets of digital marketing and her quality benchmarks are high, as demonstrated by MediaCom’s TRR scores averaging 9/10. The judges said: “Minsun clearly demonstrates the skills and attributes necessary to become an exemplary leader within our industry.”
Hannah Jones (Finalist)
Sparro general manager
Having established infrastructure and an award-winning culture at Sparro, Hannah has spent the past 12 months doubling staff members and taking the team through two lockdowns. She has developed and deployed several employee initiatives including a 20-week leadership course, EAP mental health program and ‘Search Inside Yourself’ training. The result? Zero COVID-19 redundancies, strong staff retention and high leader satisfaction. The judges said: “Hannah seems like an impressive and intuitive leader. Supporting and developing staff as a priority is reaping rewards in terms of revenue, retention and team spirit.”
Ben Campbell
Nine director of advertising and data products
Ben has led several strategic projects critical to Nine’s commercial success, from its new digital advertising technology platform to the unification of Nine’s data asset following mergers with Fairfax and Macquarie Media. Ben also led the team, in partnership with Nine Technology, that designed and delivered Nine’s addressable TV proposition. Ben has contributed to the development of the digital ad industry through his past positions on IAB councils and has recently been appointed to the IAB board as an alternate director. The judges said: “The ability to make incredibly-complex concepts seem simple is an outstanding ability to have today. Especially when there are such skills shortages across the digital and data landscape.”
Dan Hojnik
Involved Media head of strategy and planning
Dan is an integral part of the national leadership team at Involved Media and has driven the rebrand of indie agency Paykel to Involved, created a strategic framework for a transactional agency, and doubled the client roster in six months. Most recently in his current position at Involved Media, he became the Australian representative on a global Diversity Inclusion and Belonging initiative, made up of 20 international colleagues across the Active International network. The judges said: “Dan has demonstrated that he cares about the industry and dedicates time to giving back, while also being a key driver and decision maker when shaping and evolving the business.”
Louis Hu
Joy creative director
Prior to Joy, Louis was a foundation member of Drum, instrumental in the agency’s growth and trajectory that led to the merging of Drum and Joy. Louis has worked on local and global brands such as Nike, eBay and Sydney Children’s Hospital, and developed branding for two of Australia’s media brands: KISS 1065 and Stan. Outside of his role, Louis volunteers as a designer for Good For Nothing, The Australian Red Cross and has contributed to pro-bono projects such as Swoop Aero — a logistics startup that develops drones delivering vaccines and medical equipment to developing countries. He has recently reached out to Western Sydney Ad School to offer tutoring and is finding ways to be more involved through AWARD and AGDA memberships. The judges said: “Louis is a passionate, creative leader who not only achieved in his own agency but invested back into social good initiatives.
Clare Rudduck
Yahoo Media Sydney sales director
Driving diversity and inclusion is a major agenda for Clare. As founding leader of Yahoo's (former Verizon Media) employee resource group, Women Advancing Verizon Employees (WAVE), she has led several key initiatives that promote inclusion and flexible working for mums returning from maternity leave. With the industry-wide issue of talent shortages, Clare developed a series of training modules for junior to mid-level agency staff to train them on topics including data privacy and trust, and supply path optimisation. She has earned four promotions to her current NSW sales director role, managing a team of 15. The judges said: “Empathy, EQ and resilience are absolutely standout skills necessary to be an exceptional leader in the modern workplace.”
Tori Lopez
Special head of business management
Tori became the first full-time employee at Special in 2015, following a successful five-year career stint in New York’s adland. Tori has led the Uber Eats account and driven the now globally successful ‘Tonight, I’ll Be Eating’ (TIBE) campaign. As a result of Tori’s leadership, Special was able to partner with Uber Eats to take TIBE to seven global markets and won 43 awards at every major award show. In 2021, Tori was promoted to head of business management, implementing the employee onboarding process and introducing an EAP program during COVID-19. The judges said: “Tori is clearly a huge part of the Special team and has been heavily involved and responsible for building the amazing culture that is widely known across the industry.”
Kali Guillas
The Trade Desk lead director, client strategy
Kali is a change maker within The Trade Desk, chairing the corporate social responsibility committee, which saw her lead a campaign to remove single-use plastic from The Trade Desk SEA offices. In just 10 years, Kali has progressed from intern to her current position, collecting half a dozen promotions along the way. During the past year, she has had a defining role in the success of The Trade Desk in Australia and New Zealand, opening and driving growth in the Melbourne office. Kali is a role model for women around her, within The Trade Desk, in her client interactions, and through mentoring and community activities. The judges said: “Kali has had a truly impressive career progression across multiple locations, markets and through some very challenging times.”
Benton Goodbrand
Resolution Digital Melbourne general manager
Benton is driven and passionate about making a difference outside his scope as general manager. From an industry perspective, Benton is a part of the MFA, and a mentor with Out for Australia (LGBTQI Mentoring program) and Open Pride (Omnicom’s LGBTQI D&I initiative). Resolution, in part with Omnicom, has launched an official D&I Charter and Benton has been a Chapter Lead for its LGBTQI pillar. He has also taken on board the charter's wider principles to launch Melbourne’s Women in Leadership, recognising the need to support and mentor up-and-coming women in the business. Over the past 12 months, the Melbourne business has grown strongly under his leadership. The judges said: “Benton is obviously committed to solving any tough issues within the industry in a very inspirational manner and demonstrates impressive career growth.”
Nick Brignell
GroupM & Xaxis national head of client development
During the past five years, Nick has expanded his remit from state manager leading the Xaxis business in Victoria and South Australia to national head of client development for GroupM’s expanded programmatic division. Nick built GroupM’s DOOH business, Sightline, and is currently building an AI-powered influencer marketing business for the company, demonstrating a commitment to innovation. He has enabled his team to build bespoke tech, data, ecomm and media structures for clients that increase ROI and efficiency. The judges said: “The entry demonstrates Nick’s development and ability to take on new business challenges, as well as show true industry leadership.”
Jonelle Lawrence (Finalist)
Clear Hayes Consulting managing consultant, PR and production
Within six months of joining Clear Hayes Consulting, Jonelle was promoted to head of PR and built its new production arm from scratch. She utilises this production expertise and internal resources to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the Verizon Media Academy Masterclass online within 10 days of conception. Jonelle spearheads strategic communications for UnLtd on a pro-bono basis and is a member of UnLtd’s Mentally Healthy Change Group. The judges said: “Jonelle demonstrates strong commercial instincts, external involvement and team building.”
Jessica Miles
Integral Ad Science country manager AUNZ
When Jessica stepped into the country manager role in June 2020, she deployed a new pricing model and pivoted the focus of the business to align with the growing programmatic market. She takes an active role in training and mentoring a young, non-commercial CSM team to drive negotiation and commercial skills, with a two-hour training session now rolled out across APAC. The business regularly surveys employee morale via global pulse surveys and Jessica‘s impact on the perception of management increased from a positivity ranking of 77% to 91%, generating one of the strongest results in the company. The judges said: “Jessica is an excellent advocate for better standards across the industry. An excellent role model for her generation.”
Charlotte Banister
Mindshare national head of adtech and audience
Charlotte has a passion for humanising how businesses utilise data and has put this into practice in her career. Some recent career highlights include developing and scaling Mindshare’s DMP consulting practice in Australia, creating Mindshare’s first best-practice, audience-first activation solution, and developing sustainable adtech solutions for blue chip clients. This year, she developed and led an independent RFP — and the eventual onboarding — for a full new ad-stack for one of Australia’s big four banks. Alongside this, Charlotte is dedicated to creating equal opportunity for women in the adtech space and is a regular coach for women in her industry. The judges said: “Charlotte has built a great career and demonstrates true leadership qualities through her excellent work.”
Danni Dimitri
Havas Media Sydney head of strategy
A major milestone in Danni’s career has been her appointment to head of strategy, which is testament to her strategic thinking and leadership skills. Danni reshaped Havas’ strategic product, resulting in four pitch wins during the past 12 months. In addition, Danni developed the Havas Values — an important piece of work to positively influence culture post the Hyland acquisition. Outside of the immediate scope of her role, Danni currently mentors five high performers across the industry and is a passionate supporter of diversity in leadership. The judges said: “Danni is energetic, involved and a brilliant example of an emerging leader.”
Chris Murphy
The Hallway senior account director
Chris may only be 29, yet he’s trusted with three of The Hallway’s top clients and is the youngest member of the senior leadership team. He believes in paying it forward, setting up a YouTube channel called Sh*t. What Now?, where he talks to the industry’s sharpest minds to glean insights for young people hoping to break into advertising. Chris joined The Hallway at the beginning of 2020 to lead the launch of Binge, and despite having to restructure the entire launch campaign due to production restrictions, the brand launched on schedule and with great success. The judges said: “An inspiring example of strength, determination and an ambitious mindset. One to watch for sure.”
THANK YOU to the judges:
Simon Hadfield, Managing Partner DMCG Global
Linda Wong, Director, People MFA
Gai Le Roy, CEO IAB
Keeley Pope, Founder and CEO KPMR
Robert Stone, Chief People Officer Wunderman Thompson Australia
Davanh Inthachanh, Director of People and Culture Seven
Andrew Sherman, The Transition Coach
Ellie Rogers, ANZ Agency Director Facebook
Belinda Lodge, Founder and CEO Ipopulate
Charmaine Moldrich, CEO OMA
Shiva Kumar, Head of Brand Marketing & Communications LinkedIn
Pauly Grant, Chief Talent Officer Publicis Groupe
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