Tag: anz

Sydney, Australia – Sue Squillace has been appointed as the chief executive officer at Mediahub ANZ, following an agency leadership restructure after Andrew Livingston, executive director for Asia-Pacific has resigned from his role to relocate to the United Kingdom.

In her new role, Squillace will oversee the Mediahub Sydney and Perth offices, as an extension of Mediahub’s joint venture partnership. Livingston will partner with Squillace over the coming weeks to transition the Mediahub clients and team in Sydney.

Moreover, she will also consolidate Mediahub’s offering as a standalone, full-service media agency working alongside Mediabrands’ agencies UM and Initiative, that will also operate as a hub with sister agency 303 MullenLowe (part of Attivo Group). 

Lastly, she will continue to sit on the ANZ leadership team for joint venture partner Attivo, providing high level strategic approaches and integrations across 303 MullenLowe and other Attivo agencies in ANZ, and will also join the Mediabrands executive leadership team.

For Mark Coad, CEO at Mediabrands, restructuring Mediahub’s leadership and reinforcing the business as a standalone full-service media offering, alongside UM and Initiative, demonstrates Mediabrands’ commitment to finding new solutions that accelerate growth for their business and for their clients.

“Given Sue’s enviable media background, and role within Attivo, she makes the perfect leader to evolve and grow Mediahub’s offering. She will now focus on driving sustainable growth outcomes for Mediahub’s clients, leveraging Mediabrands’ global network, and future-proofing the business as it navigates the complexity of the industry’s rapidly changing tech and digital landscapes,” Coad said.

Meanwhile, Squillace commented, “Media continues to be a power driver of business growth, and having a model that reflects both current and future client demands is a business imperative. After some time reviewing our offering with market and client consultation, we believe these changes will provide Mediahub with a competitive advantage, reflecting what clients have been asking for.” 

She added, “It also ensures it has the backing it requires in the future as economic pressures continue to bite. Now is the time to accelerate, and bring bigger and better ideas and solutions to the table. Mediahub is now in a strong position to offer its clients the power of an indie backed by the capabilities of a global network, with all the tools, technology and data that go with a joint venture. Teamed with the opportunity to tap into the creative powerhouse that is 303 MullenLowe, it provides a market leading offering.”

Auckland, New Zealand – ANZ has teamed up with TBWA\NZ and Eleven NZ to launch an awareness campaign which uses screensavers to remind vulnerable people on the rise of financial scams recently.

The initiative combines the one thing all grandparents want – pictures of their grandchildren – with advice they need – tips to avoid getting scammed. Said initiative was launched after research revealed that over half of over 65-year-olds have experienced an actual, or attempted scam in the last 12 months.

Launching just in time for Mother’s Day, the programme calls on New Zealanders to take photos of their children holding up a sign with banking safely tips, before adding the photo to their grandparent’s devices as its wallpaper. The goal is to have families share banking safely advice while uploading a wallpaper that serves as a reminder about steps grandparents can take to avoid being scammed in a way that’s memorable and loved.

Ben Kelleher, managing director for personal banking at ANZ says, “Older adults are being disproportionately impacted by a range of online scams – they’re afraid of being scammed but aren’t always aware of what to do to stay safe. Only 29% of them are speaking to their families about their scamming incident, so we are hoping this initiative will help them to speak more freely about this subject and feel more at ease.”

Meanwhile, Shane Bradnick, chief creative officer at TBWA\NZ, commented, “Sometimes security advice can be dry, forgettable and in formats that may never reach the people that most need it. We all know someone who has been affected by a scam recently because they are so rife. So we wanted to find a way to have families teach their loved ones and ensure the most important banking safely information gets to those most vulnerable to these scammers.” 

Sydney, Australia – Bastion Transform, the content strategy and digital transformation arm of Bastion, has appointed Jenni Ryall as its new group director for business development and strategy.

In her new role, Ryall’s focus will be on building out the media, tech, and content businesses for Bastion Transform, adding further breadth of expertise to the existing team’s understanding of technology, audience, and monetisation strategy.

Ryall brings with her over 15 years’ industry experience in tech, news media and content strategy, and was recently with Meta where she was responsible for strategic partnerships on news for ANZ. During said previous role, she played a key role in driving the multi-million-dollar investments into media companies across ANZ.

Prior to this, she has had an extensive career as a leader in news and digital media in Australia and the US where she has been at the centre of digital transformation, the repositioning of high-growth media brands and the push for innovation in news products.

Speaking on her new role, Ryall said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to join Gaven Morris and the brilliant team at Bastion Transform at a crucial time for businesses working at the intersection of technology, media, and content. With the explosion of AI into the mainstream, the rise of new formats for younger generations and the growth of new revenue models utilising content, it’s an important moment to extend the innovative future of content and media with Bastion Transform.”

Meanwhile, Gaven Morris, managing director at Bastion Transform, commented, “I’m excited Jenni Ryall has agreed to write the next chapter of her illustrious career with the growing Bastion Transform team. Jen’s experience and expertise with newsrooms, publishers and platforms is a breakthrough appointment.”

He added, “As another wave of major change approaches, the Asia-Pacific region needs a specialist service focused on purpose-led transformation and building successful future business. Our outstanding team is proud Jen is joining us in this new senior leadership role.”

Sydney, Australia – A new study by HypeAuditor, an AI analytics platform for transparent and fraud-free influencer marketing, revealed that minority of the influencers in Australia are not proactively collaborating with brands for partnerships despite the development of influencer marketing in the industry.

HypeAuditor surveyed over 500 content creators on Instagram and TikTok with over 1,000 followers. It was found that one-third of the influencers prefer to not actively participate with brands for partnerships or respond to inquiries in groups or marketplaces. However, 94% of these respondents still prefer to make partnerships with brands.

Moreover, the study also revealed that 46% of influencers had seen an increase in brand partnerships this year compared to 2022 whilst 39% noticed an increase in the amount paid by brands for sponsored posts.

Alexander Frolov, co-founder and CEO at HypeAuditor, said that content creators are confident that there are collaboration opportunities and it’s a matter of exerting efforts to find meaningful opportunities.

“Influencers, especially those who are new to the space or have a smaller reach, wanting collaborations and partnerships will need to take control and leverage the right tools to find the right partners that resonate with their content,” Frolov added.

Moreover, HypeAuditor has announced its new platform HypeAuditor for Influencers to bring both influencers and brands that seek for collaborations. The platform will give access to HypeAuditor’s solutions including Media Kit to easily generate custom media kits for influencers directly to brands, account analytics and market analysis, and updates from the most notable followers.

Australia – Global adtech PubMatic has appointed James Young, most recently from rival adtech company Magnite, as its new regional director for Australia and New Zealand. His appointment takes effect in September this year.

In his new role, Young will lead the ANZ team, managing strategy, sales and operations for PubMatic in the region, as the company continues to focus on delivering effective, innovative, and responsible media solutions to publishers and advertisers.

Most recently, Young was Magnite’s managing director for Australia. He previously held senior roles with Telaria, The Guardian, and eBay. He is also the co-chair of the IAB Video Council.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “The ANZ market has enormous potential for growth, and I’m excited that I’ll be part of a company that is at the forefront of the digital advertising industry. I look forward to working closely with PubMatic customers and partners to drive success in the region.”

Meanwhile, Jason Barnes, chief revenue officer for APAC at PubMatic, commented, “PubMatic is in a period of significant growth and James’s pedigree in the digital advertising market and experience with broadcast on demand (BVOD) advertising will bring incredible value to the team and our publisher and advertiser customers.”

This new appointment comes after the recent appointment of Sandro Catanzaro as new vice president of product management, CTV, and video.

Australia – Health insurer HCF, in collaboration with creative agency Clemenger BBDO, has launched a new brand platform titled ‘We Put Our Money Where Our Members Are’, to prove that it offers unique benefits as Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund. 

HCF’s new brand platform comes with a 90-second clip showing HCF employees getting things from their desks so they can have a giveaway to attract new customers. These not-so-fancy ‘gifts’ will be offered to new customers in branches across Australia if they will sign up online.

The campaign also aims to prove that HCF is not their typical health fund since it provides great value health cover and support to members over profits to shareholders.

Tatiana Papavero, head of advertising and operations at HCF, said that the new platform is a true reflection of the unique value that HCF offers to its customers, and the campaign allows them to connect with people in humorous way.

Tristan Graham, executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, added, “The idea for this campaign was born during a casual call we were having with a few of our clients. It’s proof that collaboration really is key to creating brave, category-challenging work.” 

Other works from the campaign will run across TV, radio, OLV, OOH, social, digital, and native placements. 

Australia – Creative agency Host/Havas has announced the promotion of Anthony Moore as its managing director to continue being hands-on with the agency’s clients including Reckitt, Tourism Fiji, and the Australian Federal Police, whilst expanding his responsibilities more broadly for the agency.

In 2015, Moore joined the agency as its managing partner. He became an integral part of its projects including the creation of Australia’s second most popular podcast for the Australian Federal Police. He also contributed to the win of the hotly contested Tourism Fiji pitch and helped Air New Zealand become Australia’s most trusted brand five years in a row.

James Wright, chief executive officer at Havas Creative Network, said that Moore has been a crucial player in the agency’s success, from developing strong client relationships, supporting the delivery of their iconic campaigns, and building a fun culture. 

Meanwhile, Moore said, “I’m really proud of everything we have achieved together, particularly over the past few years and the culture we continue to build at Host/Havas. The team here are incredibly talented and certainly make my job easier every day.”

Host/Havas specialises in blending creativity and technology to solve real business problems, from brand thinking and design to innovation, CX, tech consulting, and digital development.

Sydney, Australia – In addition to its existing remit in Australia, digital marketing agency Tug agency has expanded its partnership with entertainment company and tourist attraction operator Merlin Entertainment to increase the share of voice and audience traffic for all Merlin Entertainments attractions in Australia and New Zealand through free, organic, editorial and natural search results. 

Merlin Entertainments, which is a home for tourist attractions, appointed the agency in July last year to manage the search engine optimisation for SEA LIFE Sydney. In the expanded role, the agency will now work on all four SEA LIFE locations in Australia and New Zealand and other attractions including WILDLIFE Sydney Zoo, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Melbourne, Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventure and Otway Fly Treetop Adventure, Madame Tussauds and Sydney Tower Eye.

Matt Newman, head of e-commerce at Merlin Entertainments for APAC said that Tug agency has been consistently delivering strong performance so they are delighted to expand the agency’s remit for their operations in Australia and New Zealand.

“Merlin Entertainments offers something for everyone and we look forward to engaging more visitors at our attractions and creating more magical experiences for our guests with the help of Tug’s digital marketing expertise,” Newman added.

Charlie Bacon, managing director at Tug Sydney, commented, “Following a successful trial, we welcome the opportunity to extend our specialist search capabilities for all of Merlin Entertainments venues. They operate some of the most unique and memorable visitor attractions and the team is ready to ensure that the business continues to enjoy customer growth.”

Tug agency specialises in performance media, using data, media, content and technology with offices in Sydney, Singapore, London, Toronto and Berlin.

Sydney, Australia – In addition to its existing media remit in Australia, independent creative, design, and media agency Enigma expands its partnership with global equipment manufacturer New Holland after winning the strategy & creative business remit for both Australia and New Zealand markets.

The agency’s new mandate will focus on all strategy, creative and production services and executions for Australia and New Zealand. This is all the while being responsible for media buying across all Australian national and local broadcast media, extending to print, outdoor, radio, cinema, digital, search, and social.

Jack Mason, managing director at Enigma, said that he’s delighted with the expansion of agency’s remit which allows New Holland to benefit from a full-service agency collaboration. 

“New Holland is a fantastic business with so much creative potential. Potential that will be easier to achieve by having strategy, creative and media working together within one agency. It makes collaboration easier, encourages exciting new perspectives and ultimately helps us produce best in class work for this iconic brand,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ross Purdy, head of marketing and communications at CNH Industrial in Australia & New Zealand, said that they’re pleased to expand the relationship with Enigma as their creative agency partner.

“Enigma has demonstrated a strong understanding of our audience from construction to agricultural. Through the pitch process we’ve been really impressed with their strategic perspective and a very exciting creative approach with the customer at the centre,” Purdy added.

Enigma focuses on creative, media, brand strategy and design, with offices in Sydney, Newcastle, and Brisbane.