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.
Amplifi ANZ appoints chief investment officer
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) Australia and New Zealand has appointed Michael Bass as chief investment officer for Amplifi, the group’s investment unit. He brings more than 20 years’ experience, joining Amplifi from Network Ten and will replace outgoing chief investment officer Ashley Earnshaw, who last week was promoted to the role of CEO of DAN media brand Vizeum. Bass will be responsible for developing and driving DAN’s media investment strategy, as well as identifying new ways of working with media owners to maximise value, innovation and outcomes for clients. He begins in the role on 2 September.
Facebook hires creative Steve Coll
Facebook has tapped long-time agency creative Steve Coll to head up its Creative Shop. Coll had recently left With Collective after four years as its chief creative officer and creative partner. He’s had extensive experience in the agency world, having worked as executive creative director at Droga5 and Havas Worldwide Australia. He has also worked at Leo Burnett in Sydney and AMV BBDO in London.
Initiative Sydney nabs Rufus MD
Mike Kay has been appointed head of client advice and business development at Initiative Sydney following a series of new business wins at the agency, including the $30 million Carnival Australia portfolio, KPMG, ARN and Fujitsu. Kay will transition to Initiative from his current role as managing director of IPG Mediabrands specialist retail division Rufus. Prior to Rufus, Kay worked at fellow Mediabrands agency UM where he was head of client advice and led large global accounts including Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Spotify and H&M. In his new role Kay will also be a member of Initiative Australia’s senior leadership team.
Former Telstra CMO takes on advisory role
Former Telstra CMO Joe Pollard has taken on a short-term senior advisor role in the marketing and corporate communications team of philanthropic organisation Minderoo. Pollard has more than 30 years’ experience in brand, marketing and customer management. Her career has included group executive media and marketing for Telstra, chief executive roles at both Publicis Mojo and Ninemsn and ten years at Nike in the United States managing global media, e-commerce and branded content divisions. Pollard will work across the Foundation’s initiatives and the commercial Group’s portfolios for the next few months. She will commute to Perth for the position from Sydney.
GroupM announces new global CEO
WPP-owned GroupM has announced Christian Juhl will take over the global CEO role from Kelly Clark on 1 October. Juhl will be responsible for the vision, strategy and operations of WPP’s media-focused companies, overseeing 35,000 people globally and $USD48 billion ($AUD68.5 billion) in annual client media billings. Juhl is currently the global CEO of measurement-driven agency Essence, which he joined in 2013, and has since led the agency's acquisition by WPP in 2015.
JJ Eastwood joins growing marketplace app Carousell
Former Rakuten Marketing MD JJ Eastwood has joined the fast-growing marketplace app Carousell. Eastwood, who was MD at Rakuten for Asia-Pacific for more than a year, steps into the managing director of advertising role at the Singapore-based Carousell. Eastwood who will be based in Singapore for the role also has extensive experience in Australia prior to joining Rakuten. He was previously CEO of Huffington Post Australia and has also worked at Rocket Fuel as MD of advertising and eBay Australia as GM of advertising across five years. He has also worked at Microsoft, Fairfax Media and News Corp in Australia.
GHO snares former CHE Proximity group CD
CX agency GHO has appointed the former CHE Proximity group creative director Hamish Stewart as experience strategy director. Prior to his time at CHE Proximity, Stewart worked as executive creative director at R/GA Sydney and group creative director at M&C Saatchi Sydney.
DDB Worldwide elevates Ari Weiss to CCO
DDB Worldwide today has elevated Ari Weiss to the role of chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide, expanding his remit to include creative responsibilities of the global network. Weiss joined DDB in 2016, nearly a year after Wendy Clark was appointed North America CEO of the Omnicom network. As Weiss’ first hire in the new role, he has named Britt Nolan as his successor and chief creative officer for DDB North America. Britt Nolan, most recently served as co-president and chief creative officer of Leo Burnett US.
Network Ten names new group strategy manager
Network Ten has appointed Rex Validakis-Betar as its new group strategy manager, reporting to chief operating officer Annabelle Herd. In his new role, Rex is responsible for helping shape and evolve Network 10’s strategy, working closely with the executive leadership and teams across the business.
The New Daily has a new editor
The New Daily has named Neil Frankland as its new editor. Frankland has been with the publication for three years and was previously its AM editor. With more than 14 years’ experience as an international editor and reporter, he has written for publications such as the Associated Press. His promotion comes after a series of hires for The New Daily, including a new weekly columnist, homepage editor and property writer. Frankland replaces Patrick Elligett who is moving to Nine.
VCCP Sydney ECD departs
Gary Dawson, executive creative director and creative partner at VCCP Sydney, has departed the agency following a mutual agreement between the parties. Dawson joined the agency in 2016 after a four-year stint as a creative director at M&C Saatchi working across CommBank, NRMA Insurance, CPA Australia and wotif.com. Prior to this he was deputy creative director at Leo Burnett. VCCP have not named a replacement yet.
Shopper Media Group recruits News Corp insights manager
Shopper Media Group has recruited New Corp’s former insights manager Diane Litchfield to manage its new Shopper Ai media-planning tool. Litchfield’s role as data and insights manager will assist clients keen to access Shopper Ai, which helps identify where in Australia, and in which shopping centres, will deliver the best buy for their campaign. Litchfield joins Shopper Media Group after close to a decade working in insights across major media agency accounts at News Corp, and earlier as a buyer at OMD. She will join the marketing and insights team headed by Anna Lenart.
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