As Ikon soldiers forward with its objective to deliver "the best programmatic buying in the industry," it has brought in top talent from the UK and Canada, AdNews can reveal.
UK-based Sarah Melrose has joined the agency as programmatic manager, while Canadian, Aaron Vardon, has been appointed strategy director - both effective immediately.
Melrose joins from her role as display account manager at UK-based M/Six, having previously held a role at Microsoft. Ikon managing partner, Pat Crowley, said her newly created role is imperative for the agency, which sees programmatic as part of its future growth.
“Programmatic is a rapidly growing area of our business and is imperative for the future growth of Ikon," Crowley said.
“Such an important role requires best-in-class talent at the helm. Sarah is just the person for the job and to continue the evolution of Ikon’s programmatic offering.”
Melrose said given how new programmatic is in Australia, it's an exciting time to lead a team in this market.
“The UK was instrumental in pioneering programmatic buying, so it is certainly an exciting time to move to Australia and lead a team in what is still a relatively fledging market,” Melrose said.
“Ikon’s programmatic team has been delivering some great results for clients so I will be looking to use my depth of knowledge and experience to take Ikon’s programmatic offering to the next level, making sure we are leading the way in programmatic thinking.”
Vardon will be focused on the Commonwealth Bank group of brands in his new role. He joins from Canada where he was most recently chief media strategist at MediaPlus Advertising.
He has more than 15 years' experience in advertising agencies, including Starcom Mediavest and UM.
Crowley said Vardon's “consumer-centric mindset” and experience in full service agencies will add to Ikon's offering.
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