Tom Dodd and Jo McAlister.
Initiative has promoted Tom Dodd, national head of strategy, to chief strategy officer based in Melbourne.
Dodd was head of media at IAG, Initiative’s client, managing the media business across the brand portfolio, including NRMA Insurance and CGU. Previously he was Sydney head of connections planning at UM.
Dodd will announce his full national strategy team shortly. His appointment is effective immediately.
“Initiative has always been celebrated for having a deep bench of Strategic talent; therefore, it makes complete sense that we would promote from within for this coveted role and task Doddy with continuing to build upon this momentum," said Jo McAlister, CEO, Initiative.
“I was blown away by the calibre of talent who were put forward for the role, but Doddy was my first and natural choice to be appointed as Chief Strategy Officer.
"He has been immersed in our business for over 2 years as our National Head of Strategy, and like me, has valuable client-side experience, so really understands how our clients think and what is required from a strategy perspective to propel them forward.
“He is an exceptional leader with extensive experience leading agency villages coupled with a deep knowledge garnered from working client side, which makes him an invaluable asset to the agency’s SLT and strategy team.
"But the best thing about Doddy is his ability to bring out the best in everyone, he has extraordinarily high standards and is relentless in making sure our work is of the highest quality, however what I love most is he takes everyone, from Client service to his Strategy team to Investment along on the journey with him. I can’t wait to see what he will achieve this year for the agency and our clients."
Dodd, said that when he joined Initiative, the business was coming out of COVID and clients were looking for interesting ideas and experiences to solve their business challenges.
"That hasn’t changed but added to the mix is the immersion of data-led thinking underpinned by AI, and Initiative is perfectly poised to utilise these technologies to deliver best in class thinking to our craft," he said.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be leading the agency’s strategy offering. I am excited about working with Jo and the team to craft a new agency narrative and expand the national Strategy/Comms Design teams ensuring they are totally focussed on driving sustainable business growth, for clients and continuing Initiative’s reputation as leading strategic thinkers.”
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