PHD strengthens ANZ client team
PHD has hired Anna Cherry as head of strategy and Luciana Slade as business director for ANZ account. Cherry brings 13 years of experience and in the newly-created role is tasked with driving strategic thinking in the Melbourne office. She will report to chief strategy officer Stewart Gurney and will sit on PHD’s leadership team. Slade has worked across a range of industries and sectors, including auto, FMCG and finance.
“Having recently renewed our long-term contract with ANZ it is great that we can bring in fresh new talent to continue to deliver innovative and forward thinking ideas for ANZ,” PHD group business director Simon Lawson said.
Blue 449 appoints 20th Century Fox lead
Blue 449 today has finalised the transition of the 20th Century Fox from Zenith with the appointment of Stuart Capel as client partner. Capel has 16 years of experience in the industry and joins Blue 449 from Publicis sister agency Leo Burnett, where he was media director on the Diageo account. Before Leos, Capel was business director with Initiative and led the agency’s largest client Hyundai.
Blue 449 has paused on pitching for new business the past few months to transition in several new clients. These are National Breast Cancer Foundation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Southern Cross Travel Insurance and Puma.
“The Fox transition has been a major process and getting the leadership on the business right was paramount to us so we are delighted to welcome Stuart into the Blue 449 family and excited for what his leadership skills will deliver in the future,” Blue 449 CEO John Preston said.
NewsMediaWorks appoints Peter Miller as CEO
Peter Miller has been named the new CEO of NewsMediaWorks, after Mark Holland's departure from the role in February. Miller was previously executive director of global market strategy at Adstream and has spent 25 years in the media sector. At NewsMediaWorks, Miller will manage industry co-operation and communicate the sector’s value proposition to advertisers. This will include involvement in readership metric emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia). Miller has spent time at Fairfax, News Corp, Bauer and the Mirror Australia.
NewsMediaWorks chairman Michael Miller said: “Peter’s strong connections to, and deep understanding of, the publishing industry and all the key industry stakeholders, as well as his experience in technology and digital solutions for advertisers and agencies, made him the stand-out candidate as CEO for NewsMediaWorks,”
We Are Social launches in Beijing
Social agency We Are Social is expanding its presence in China by opening a new Beijing office. The Beijing team will be working with a number of international and local businesses, including China Minsheng Bank, Nestlé, and China Mobile’s Migu. Founder of the agency’s Shanghai office Pete Lin and managing director of We Are Social in Greater China will lead the Beijing team supported by Wenny Qin as account director and creative director Leslie Guo. The new team joins We Are Social’s global network across five continents and will work closely with the agency’s Shanghai office. The Shanghai portfolio includes 15 retained clients, such as Beats by Dre, MCM and Acer.
Google to block annoying ads
Google's Chrome browser is set to soon be equipped with technology that can block annoying ads. According to AdAge, the company confirmed the news on Thursday and announcing the launch of an “Ad Experience Report”. The report will score publishers' sites and inform them which of their ads are “annoying experiences”. Chrome will also give publishers the option to have non-annoying ads display or pay a small fee to access the site ad-free. Google is labeling it as a 'filter' rather than 'ad blockers', which can remove ads consumers dislike. Recently, GroupM global head of global brand safety John Montgomery criticized Google's brand safety technology, arguing he didn't buy Facebook and Google's argument that user privacy will be compromised if they allow third party verification of their platforms.
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