From Domain CEO Antony Catalano's shock exit to a slate of agency staffing shake-ups, check out the biggest moves across adland this week.
Domain CEO Catalano in shock exit to ‘put family first’
Just three months after the real estate business listed on the ASX, CEO Antony Catalano has exited. Domain's shares have dropped 11% since the news. Entrepreneur Catalano, who is a major shareholder in the business, has led Domain since 2013, when he joined the then-Fairfax owned company. He has been with the real-estate biomass for 26 years and is known for helping morph the firm into a media and services powerhouse. Domain listed as a separate entity in November last year. In a very open statement, Catalano says the decision follows the realisation that the demands of the role were taking him away from family more than he would like. Read more here.
Y&R ECD David Joubert exits for DDB Sydney
Top creative David Joubert has exited Y&R Sydney after nine years at the agency, joining DDB Sydney as creative partner, AdNews can reveal. Joubert started at Y&R in 2008, working his way up the ranks to land the ECD gig in 2014 alongside Bart Pawlak, who will remain at the agency. Richard Shaw and Jeremy Hogg replace Joubert as assistant creative directors, reporting to Pawlak. The duo join from Clemenger Melbourne and Marcel Sydney respectively. Read more here.
UM promotes Grivas to chief digital and technology officer
UM Australia says it is investing in its evidence-based consumer behaviour capabilities with the promotion of Maria Grivas to chief data and technology officer, effective immediately. The promotion expands on the remit of her current role as chief digital officer, which she has held for the past six years. Read more here.
Wavemaker appoints Mark Lawson as national performance head
Wavemaker has appointed Mark Lawson as national head of performance. Lawson will develop the agency’s performance offering, covering biddable platforms, search and social and reports to chief growth and product officer James Hier. Lawson joins Wavemaker's North Sydney offices after more than five years with WPP’s digital-first agency Essence. He has worked at Essence in London, Singapore and helped launch the Sydney office in 2016. He has also worked as a planning executive at Optimedia UK. Read more here.
R/GA's Nick Law joins Publicis as chief creative officer
Publicis Groupe has named R/GA global chief creative officer Nick Law as global chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe and president of Publicis Communications. The Aussie expat will start in May and report directly to chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun. Law joined R/GA in 2001 as CCO, helping to launch the digital agency’s Sydney office in 2013. He was tipped to become the successor of R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg. Read more here.
QMS names new CEO, signals international plans
QMS Media has appointed former chief sales officer John O’Neill as CEO as part of a wider restructure of its senior management. QMS floated on the ASX in 2015 and has since enjoyed rapid growth. O’Neill has more than 20 years’ experience in the outdoor media industry with stints at Eye Corp, Media Puzzle and Ooh! Media before joining QMS. Read more here.
IPG names new CEO of Reprise
Dr Grace Liu has been appointed CEO of IPG Mediabrands’ digital experience agency Reprise Australia. Liu is the former CEO of Isobar China where she has led the digital agency business with a focus on data and technology. She has also previously run research house Kantar TNS China with a focus on cultural integration, corporate repositioning and business transformation. She replaces Ale Vendramin who left in December 2017. IPG Mediabrands Australia CEO Danny Bass says: “She has some of the strongest credentials I have seen as a driver of engagement across digital channels and her skills will further energise our very successful Reprise business.”
Qantas restructures exec team
Qantas has restructured its exec team in a move that sees Olivia Wirth shift from chief customer officer to lead the company’s Loyalty business. Current executive manager of sales and distribution, Vannes Hudson, will replace her. The changes follow the resignation of current loyalty CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who departed in December last year. The shift has meant a change in reporting lines and the corporate affairs function is now led by Lesley Grant, with Hudson still left responsible for group marketing.
Ooh! Media appoints new CFO
Former Cabcharge and BPAY CFO Sheila Lines is joining Ooh! Media as chief financial officer. Ooh! Media CEO Brendon Cook says: “In addition to her 25 years’ finance leadership, Sheila has in-depth experience in technology and data infrastructure and we are looking forward to Shelia bringing that expertise to oOh!media as part of our Executive Leadership Team.”
Damon Scarr to lead sales for Adobe Advertising Cloud in APAC
Adobe has appointed Damon Scarr into the new role of head of ad cloud dales for Asia Pacific (APAC), announcing Philip Cronin will join Adobe to lead partner engagement, including the launch of a Partner Reseller Program in the region. Following four successful years leading the development and expansion of the Adobe Partner business in APAC, Scarr will take on responsibility for the enterprise sales go-to-market strategy and growth acceleration for Adobe’s Ad Cloud business across the region.
Adshel boosts sales team
Former agency sales director at Fairfax Media, Martin Wood, has joined Adshel as state sales manager for NSW. His appointment comes just days after the sales team was bolstered by the arrival of Brian Combes from Dentsu Aegis’s sports & entertainment agency, MKTG, where he was group commercial manager. Combes brings extensive experience across TV and out-of-home to Adshel.
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