Australia remains one of the biggest markets globally for many industries, including in marketing and advertising. Alongside New Zealand, these markets contribute to a growing industry scene where brands and B2B firms flourish thanks to an abundance of agencies helping these companies to thrive in the ANZ market and reach more potential clients and consumers.
This is exactly what Dentsu Creative and Merkle does–with the former helping brands to reach consumers through engaging campaigns and marketing initiatives, with the latter helping firms to utilise the power of data and analytics to improve customer experience (CX) and digital transformation. The big question is: how does a sole leader for both of these practices hold up in a competitive market much like ANZ?
To learn more about this, we recently sat down with Kirsty Muddle, CEO of Dentsu Creative ANZ and CEO of practices & products for ANZ at Merkle to learn more about her balanced agency leadership, and how she strives to always make marketing and technology work together through their own initiatives.
Understanding personal leadership philosophy
For Kirsty, her leadership philosophy as both leading Dentsu Creative and Merkle in ANZ is building a foundation of authenticity, empowerment, and continuous learning. Among those key traits include leading by example, learning from failure, and setting boundaries.
“So many leaders get this wrong, when it should be so simple. I believe in showing up, being human, and making myself available for my team. Leadership isn’t just about setting the direction, it’s also about setting the tone for collaboration, trust, and accountability,” she stated.
In terms of learning from failures, she added, “We all fail! So let’s not shy away from it. Instead, embrace and encourage a culture of taking risks and failing fast. Some of the best ideas come from pushing boundaries.”
With a focus on bringing modern creativity to life, Kirsty finds innovative ways to help clients grow their brands and form deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers. She also leads a team of passionate people across creative, strategy, production, earned attention, digital experience, entertainment, public relations, content, social media, Indigenous affairs, and government relations.
Keeping the team engaged
When asked about her way of creating initiatives to keep the agency’s talents engaged, Kirsty stated that creative and entrepreneurial thinking comes when their teams collaborate and unlock the broader dentsu community in order to solve client problems.
“We place a lot of emphasis and importance on creating a culture that values transparency, fosters innovative thinking, and has the right structures in place to enable cross-functional collaboration,” she said.
Some of those initiatives include ‘10 at 10’ where short, hyper-focused updates are done where the team covers the most important things for the week, and ‘Hour of Power’ which are longer, monthly deep dives where the team shares knowledge from key projects, hear from clients, and showcase big ideas or interesting work from across the network.
Moreover, they also do pitch recap sessions to spark inspiration and have open discussions on where the team and its talents can pivot next time.
Navigating industry challenges
Kirsty remarks that no two days are the same in the marketing and creative scene–and that she loves these changes amidst constant evolution. First, she recognises market pressures, noting that the industry faces tighter budgets and increased client expectations. However, she sees this as an opportunity for them to be more efficient.
“This presents an opportunity to think about efficiencies within our business and ensure we’re focusing on value-driven solutions to ensure we’re creating an impact, even in a tough market,” she explained.
Part of the challenge they’re also navigating is innovating their business, stating, “Connecting our teams around client needs has created new opportunities for collaboration across the group. This shift has allowed our people to work across more diverse projects, engage with different clients, and has opened the door to learn from other inspiring people within the global dentsu network.”
Connected to that as well is their goal of continuously refining their product offering, making sure that they clearly define what success looks like. Given that they work in the B2B scene–an industry that is growing whilst most other budgets are under pressure–it is an area that they specialise in from market understanding and consumer dynamics to deliver in tech, media, and creative.
“This has given us the foundation to ensure our creative teams are delivering tier-one work for our tier-one clients, and our CX capabilities are deeply ingrained throughout the business,” she added.
On the other hand, while technically not a challenge, Kirsty also notes that technological advancements are an area that they all have had to learn about and adopt quickly, such as the use of ‘Agentic AI’.
“We are in a productivity lull as a nation, people need time back to focus on the things that are critical yet we still have cumbersome methods and multiplicity that compounds on our time. At dentsu, we’re not just leaning in, we want to be a leader in this space and find meaningful innovation that creates business value and drives impact for our clients and ourselves,” she further noted.
Reflection of milestones and what lies ahead
While Dentsu Creative is just two years old, Kirsty remarked how far their practice has reached, given the multiple services they are able to provide to their clients, especially in the B2B space.
“We have brought together capabilities across Brand, PR, Social, Government Relations, Experience & Connected Commerce and Content Supply Chain to deliver what clients need now, but we’re also geared for the future,” she said.
She added, “We have now diversified our work with clients like NBN and AMEX, delivering E2E Creative solutions for them, and seeing businesses like online retailer The Iconic grow with accelerated velocity as a result of this type of thinking. It’s been a big and hugely rewarding 2 years – and we’re just getting started.”
When asked on her leadership advice in terms of inspiring future leaders in the marketing industry, she summarised it into four key points:
- Build a team of resilient and adaptive marketers, so you can remain agile.
- Maintain an open mindset. Things move quickly; it’s our job to anticipate what our clients need next.
- Celebrate both the wins and the losses.
- The best ideas can come from anywhere, so keep your eyes and ears open.
“Our industry is dynamic and demanding but filled with opportunity. Great leaders are those who listen, adapt, and remain curious,” she concluded.
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Successful marketing agencies play a crucial role in delivering effective B2B solutions, helping businesses connect with their target audiences and drive growth. They craft data-driven strategies, create compelling content, and leverage digital channels to enhance brand visibility and engagement.
By understanding industry dynamics, optimising campaigns, and fostering meaningful client relationships, these agencies enable businesses to navigate competitive markets with confidence and agility. Through innovation and strategic execution, they empower companies to build credibility, generate leads, and achieve long-term success in an ever-evolving business landscape.
