MediaCom has promoted its national strategy head Mike Deane to chief strategy officer.
Deane joins MediaCom's leadership team of CEO Sean Seamer, chief operating office and Melbourne boss Willie Pang, global ECD Gemma Hunter and chief investment officer Nicole Turley.
Deane joined MediaCom UK seven years ago and risen through the strategy ranks since moving to the Australian business in 2012.
“Mike is an extremely passionate strategist who has delivered exceptional results in his time with us. He is committed to our Systems Thinking philosophy and has been the driving force behind our new operating system which will bring elevated Strategic Planning to our partners,” MediaCom Australia and NZ CEO Sean Seamer said.
Deane added: “MediaCom has always had such a rich pedigree in strategic thinking that’s both directional and grounded, and to be tasked with leading our planning product into the future is incredibly exciting.
“We’re shifting planning into an entirely new direction that will elevate the potential of media and advertising to a far more significant driver of growth. I can’t wait to get started.”
MediaCom's Melbourne plans
MediaCom recently promoted digital boss Willie Pang to the position of chief operating officer and Melbourne MD.
At the time, Seamer told AdNews the agency would be looking to add leadership positions. This includes strategy (Deane), as well digital, commercial and talent leadership positions.
Pang's elevation to COO and his return to his hometown, underlines MediaCom's plans to build its Melbourne office into an entirely self-sufficient standalone agency.
"With Willie there, what we really want to do is build Melbourne into a standalone proposition that has everything in Melbourne. We've got great data, MBA and digital resources there," Seamer says.
"We want to make sure Melbourne can operate as a standalone force rather than drawing down on Sydney or other resources to make things happen."
It's a move that is being replicated elsewhere in the market with IPG Mediabrand's Initiative also recruiting several leadership positions in the Victorian capital to fulfil its cultural branding agency promise.
The one area that many agencies seem to be struggling with is finding strategy talent.
"We're always looking for more strategic planning capability," Seamer says. "That's something that everybody is looking for at the moment. We're very fortunate we've got Nicole Boyd in the client role down there and Gemma Hunter in the MBA role and now Willie - that's a lot of horsepower in the market."
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