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.
MAGNA promotes Nick Durrant
Nick Durrant is the new managing director of MAGNA, the IPG Mediabrands’s media intelligence and investment division, in Australia. He has been general manager of investment at MAGNA since February last year and takes the managing director role after leading many primary decisions in clients’ media investments in a turbulent 2020. Durrant is a former chief partnerships and investments officer at Initiative and national general manager of trading at News Corp.
Zenith appoints Sydney MD
Zenith Australia has promoted insider Jonny Cordony to the new role of managing director - Sydney. He has been Sydney general manager for almost three years. He is charged with leading the brand’s vision for the Sydney office, developing high-performing teams, and driving strategic partnerships and growth outcomes for clients. Cordony has been with Zenith for almost five years, joining in 2016 as national communications planning director. Prior to that, he held group business director roles at various agencies, including as regional business director in Hong Kong for Dentsu.
Brendon Cook joins Vamp board
Influencer marketing platform Vamp has appointed Ooh!Media founder Brendon Cook as an independent board member. The appointment is the first publicised move for Cook since he departed the out-of-home media company at the start of this year. Cook led oOh!Media as CEO for more than 30 years. Cook joins co-founders Ben McGrath and Aaron Brooks, as well as Gill Findlay and Investec on the board.
JCDecaux elevates Oliver Newton
Out-of-home media company JCDecaux announced the promotion of Oliver Newton to chief sales officer. Newton, who was previously general manager of sales, has more than 15 years’ experience in sales and joined JCDecaux UK in 2006 as business development manager, before joining JCDecaux Australia in 2010. In the new role, he will grow advertiser and direct advertiser relationships, as well as taking overall responsibility for the JCDecaux Nurture program aimed at providing support for Australian start-ups.
Amplified Intelligence nabs Ex-Unruly boss
Adtech veteran Phil Townend has joined Professor Karen Nelson-Field's media research and technology company Amplified Intelligence as chief growth officer. The appointment will see Townend lead commercial expansion alongside CEO and global attention thought leader, Nelson-Field. A 22-year digital advertising veteran, Townend was most recently regional general manager and APAC chief revenue officer for Unruly. Over a 10-year stint he helped Unruly go from a UK based start-up to having global presence in over 18 countries and being acquired by News Corp in 2015.
Tribal's first CSO
Tribal Australia, part of DDB Group, has hired Colin Jowell as its first chief strategy officer, further bolstering its strategic capabilities and credentials. Jowell was most recently at KPMG as part of the consultancy firm’s Customer, Brand and Marketing advisory. Jowell first joined KPMG in 2018 following its acquisition of UDKU, an innovation agency he co-founded alongside Mark Timmins and Kon Marinis in 2013. Prior to UDKU, Jowell led the strategy department at M&C Saatchi for a number of years in South Africa, Malaysia and, most recently, Australia.
New marketer at Destination NSW
Destination NSW has appointed Kathryn Illy to the role of general manager consumer marketing, effective 10 May. Illy joins Destination NSW from PwC Australia where she was director of brand and marketing, responsible for leading the organisation’s national brand and marketing strategy. Prior to PwC, Illy led the development and delivery of brand and marketing programs for a number of financial services organisations including Macquarie Group, Kessler Financial Services Australia and CommSec.
InMobi names first global marketing boss
Adtech company InMobi has appointed Krista Thomas as senior vice president and global head of marketing for InMobi Marketing Cloud. Thomas brings 20 years' experience in the media and marketing industries to InMobi. In her new role she is charged with expanding InMobi Marketing Cloud’s global awareness and influence, optimising customer acquisition, and launching innovative new solutions that leverage InMobi’s end-to-end advertising solutions to activate audiences, drive meaningful connections, and ignite growth. Previously, Thomas was SVP marketing for Amobee. Thomas has also previously worked as SVP marketing for VideoAmp and VP product marketing for Rubicon Project (now Magnite).
Promotions at DDB Remedy
DDB Remedy has made two new promotions. Jacki Williams has been promoted from business director to senior business director in recognition of her work and mentorship to the DDB Remedy team. Williams has been with the Remedy team for over nine years working across a range of pharmaceutical accounts. Narve Thakrar has been promoted to managing partner from group business director in recognition of his continued contribution to the agency over the last several years. Thakrar has been with the DDB Remedy team both in London and Sydney for almost nine years and is responsible for providing strategic consultancy and overseeing both consumer health and pharmaceutical accounts.
Traffick repositions
Activation agency Traffik, part of Clemenger Group, has unveiled a significant rebrand and expansion of its service offering as part of its new positioning, Everything Activation. In support of the agency’s broadened skillset, Traffik has brought on a raft of new specialists, including: Sam Fairley, head of shopper; Mark Edney, head of sponsorship; Eliza Millet, planner; Elena Macdonald, creative; Steph Sheen, account director and Aleks Corke, production.
Thrive welcomes Melbourne GM
Thrive PR + Communications has appointed former Haystac GM Melbourne, Nicole Hamilton, to the newly created GM Thrive Melbourne role. The agency is also in the final stages of appointing its first General Manager for its Queensland operations, overseeing both Brisbane and Gold Coast locations. Hamilton brings more than 17 years’ international and local agency experience, across both consumer and corporate brand reputation.
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