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.
Cummins&Partners ECDs exit for Special Group and James Greet departs
Joint ECDs Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber have departed Cummins&Partners Sydney to join Special Group as chief media officer James Greet also exits the business. Mandie van der Merwe and Avish Gordhan take the helm as creative directors of the Sydney office, promoted from their positions of senior art director and senior copywriter. The agency has not yet announced who will fill Greet's role. Martin and Schreiber were the original founding partners of the Sydney office, returning from their post at Johannes Leonardo in New York to launch the agency in 2015. They replace Matt Burton and Dave Bowman who left Special Group in April to join Google. Read more here.
Top MLA marketer Andrew Howie exits for Westpac
Meat & Livestock Australia’s outspoken marketing boss Andrew Howie is leaving the organisation. Howie, who is currently group marketing manager, is moving to Westpac as head of advertising for the banking brand. He has been at MLA for five years and was promoted to group marketing manager in 2015. A replacement has not yet been named but the search is on for a marketing leader who will report to CMO Lisa Sharp. Read more here.
OMD's Margie Reid joins Thinkerbell as managing partner
OMD Melbourne's former managing director Margie Reid has joined creative indie shop Thinkerbell, taking a managing partner role. The long-serving media boss left OMD last month, taking 11 years of experience with her. Reid held the MD Melbourne role at OMD for three years, first joining the company in 2006 as business director. Her appointment at Thinkerbell had been speculated since the agency announced it was seeking someone for a top managing role two months ago. Read more here.
Lego quietly hires Angie Tutt to lead marketing
Lego has quietly hired Angie Tutt to the role of senior director of marketing, following the departure of Troy Taylor in April this year. Tutt, originally from Australia, has been working with Lego UK/Ireland for the past seven years as a senior brand manager and as a brand director since 2013. According to her LinkedIn, Tutt has been working at the company for four months. Her appointment comes as Lego reviews its global media agency. The pitch is still underway.
Ex-Pandora director Chris Freel resurfaces as UnLtd CEO
Former Pandora commercial director Chris Freel has resurfaced as the CEO of UnLtd – the media and advertising industry's “social purpose organisation”. He is set to replace current CEO Paul Fisher, who is relocating overseas for family reasons. British Freel, who also worked at Fairfax from 2009-2015, is the founder of ‘The Big Clash’ cricket event which has raised more than $100,000 for various charities backed by UnLtd. Read more here.
MediaCom promotes Ben McCallum to Sydney GM
MediaCom has promoted Ben McCallum to general manager of its Sydney operations. McCallum has been MediaCom's head of The Entertainment Division for the past two years. In his new role he will be charged with leading the Sydney office and overseeing relationships with clients and service providers. Read more here.
Fairfax's Tom Armstrong snares New York Times VP role
Tom Armstrong has resurfaced at The New York Times in the newly created role of VP of advertising for APAC as the publisher opens a Singapore sales office. Armstrong will relocate to Singapore to take on the role, leading the new Singapore sales office that will serve marketers and agencies across the region, including Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. He will work closely with its branded content studio in Hong Kong. The move follows Armstrong's departure from Fairfax earlier this year after nearly four years at the business. Read more here.
PacMag’s commercial director Prue Cox exits for LinkedIn
Pacific Magazines commercial director Prue Cox has exited the business after less than 18 months at the publisher. She takes up a new role as director of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions for Australia and New Zealand. Cox resurfaced at PacMags in 2016 following her departure from NewsLifeMedia, where she was chief commercial officer for five months and at the company for five years. Read more here.
Blue 449 restructures strategy team; hires talent from UM and Iris
Blue 449 has restructured its strategy team with promotions and new hires including the return of Max Broer from UM as strategy director. Iris Sydney planner Julian Frundt also joins as senior strategist, Josef Charlesworth has been promoted from performance director to business strategist and Elliott Eldridge has moved from client manager to a senior strategist role. Read more here.
Lavender boosts ranks with senior appointments
CX agency Lavender has made two key senior appointments as it continues to expand its customer experience capabilities. Marketing strategist Linda O’Grady has joined the agency as business head on Westpac Group and Jamie Parfitt has joined the growing strategy team in the role of senior strategic planner. O’Grady brings a strong background in marketing strategy, service operations and change management, having consulted to diverse organisations including Woolworths Liquor, Diageo, IAG, Suncorp (GIO), Citibank, HSBC and Australia Post. Parfitt was most recently Strategic Planner at full-service agency Richards Rose, working on clients such as Mitsubishi, RAMS and Stan.
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