Tag: anz

Australia – Havas Media Group, the media division of global marketing and communications group Havas, has promoted Nick Kavanagh, former head of integrated communications strategy, to the newly created role of head of integrated strategy and planning.

Kavanagh is a veteran communications strategist with experience working in both media and advertising agencies. Prior to joining Havas, he previously worked as the head of communications strategy for marketing services company McCann London, helping to develop both the agency product and overseeing strategy on clients including state agency Destination NSW and department store company TK Maxx.

Commenting on his appointment, Kavanagh said that the expansion of his role from head of strategy, coupled with the agency’s recent hires, will ensure Havas Media’s goal to continue delivering meaningful media experiences – experiences that are both “innovative and data-driven” – that deliver tangible commercial returns.

“As a leadership team, we are committed to building an agency designed wholly around generating growth for our clients. This obviously requires agility and deep understanding of their specific needs and challenges, but also a more integrated approach to how we deploy our collective agency expertise to meet them,” added Kavanagh.

Meanwhile, Virginia Hyland, the CEO of Havas Media Group, commented, “We are thrilled to be promoting from within again, and Nick is very deserving of this exciting new role. As head of integrated strategy and planning, Nick will continue to develop Havas Media’s strategic output to deliver joined-up thinking across the consumer pathway touchpoints. He will oversee the delivery of that strategic vision in a way that unites all facets of our integrated agency offering; from CRO, shopper marketing, performance digital, brand work, and smart content delivery.”

Havas Media Group has also announced the recent appointments of Alex Wollacott, the new performance director, and Dan Johns, the new managing partner.

Australia – Media company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) in Australia has appointed Blair Woodcock, former assistant content director for Triple M Brisbane and group content director for Triple M Southern Queensland, to be its new head of regional content, effective 10 May.

Woodcock brings with him over 20 years of experience in the radio industry. He first joined SCA in 2008 as a breakfast announcer in Gladstone, and thereafter, became the content director for regional Queensland. Most recently, Woodcock was the assistant content director for Triple M Brisbane since 2020, as well as the group content director for Triple M Southern Queensland. In his new role, he will be leading SCA’s regional content initiatives, including its 79 regional Hit and Triple M stations around the country.

Commenting on his appointment, Woodcock said, “It’s truly exciting to get to work with a great bunch of people who love making content that connects to their local markets each and every day. Also, having worked in those markets, and alongside them in the past, it is a great honour to be leading our regional content teams. I can’t wait to dive right into this role.”

Meanwhile, Dave Cameron, the chief content officer of Southern Cross Austereo, said, “Blair has been a superstar at SCA since joining the organisation in 2008. He lives and breathes regional content and the passion he has for our regional business is unparalleled. I am confident that this appointment will help bring our mantra of Proudly National, Fiercely Local to life right across our regional footprint.”

SCA deems to be one of the leading media companies in the country. Under the Triple M and Hit network brands, SCA owns 99 stations across FM, AM, and DAB+ radio.

Australia – Basketball Australia (BA) has recently appointed Jo Juler, former head of marketing of Tennis Australia, to be its new executive general manager for marketing, communications, and digital.

Juler brings with her more than 20 years of experience in the marketing industry. She also has a wealth of executive-level experience at high-profile international and domestic sporting bodies, including Tennis Australia, Melbourne and Olympic Parks, and Melbourne Football Club. In her new role, Juler will be leading the governing body’s marketing, communications, and digital team, working with internal and external stakeholders to drive BA’s growth agenda as identified in the organization’s new four-year strategic plan.

According to Carolyn Campbell, the interim CEO of Basketball Australia, they are delighted to welcome Juler to the organization, as her appointment is truly important for Basketball Australia.

Campbell believes that Juler will bring an enormous amount of industry experience to Basketball Australia, where she has a strong record of delivering outstanding results and joins the organization at an exciting time for the sport.

“As a sport and as an organization, we have a huge amount of untapped potential which is reflected in our new strategic plan, and we are thrilled to have Jo on board to support the implementation and delivery of this strategy,” said Campbell.

Australia – In celebration of International Cannabis Culture Day, or more commonly known as ‘4-20’, Mediabrands’ culturally-driven media agency Initiative in Australia has launched a deep-dive study called ‘Cannabusiness’, which aims to analyze the emergence of a massive industry in legal cannabis across the country and its opportunities for marketers.

‘Cannabusiness’ is part of the media agency’s ‘Culture Shock’ series of investigative research into how developments in culture impact marketing and media investment decisions. In line with this, Initiative has launched a ‘Cannabusiness’ website and will be holding a public, live-panel discussion in May, to be hosted by Sam Geer, the managing director of Initiative Australia. The panel will examine the rising cultural re-acceptance of cannabis and what marketers can learn from this shift and apply it to their own brands to help power business growth.

According to Initiative, about 42% of Australians support the legalization of recreational cannabis, and between 20 to 40 companies are already listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to help manage investment in the industry.

Geer shared that they are approaching a rare phenomenon in Australian marketing – the birth of a new category. As Australia is one of the fastest-growing medical cannabis markets in the world and the 5th largest in size, he believes that it’s time to start paying attention.

“Positive interest in legislation to legalize cannabis demands a massive shift in culture in this country after decades of negative personal and political connotations. But the industry is an approaching powerhouse, with global estimates that Cannabis will be a $104 billion market by 2024,” said Geer.

Australia – Long-time Australian winemaker Casella Family Brands will now be adding its Yellow Tail brand, which is deemed to be one of the world’s most recognizable wines, to its existing remit for independent creative communications agency Connecting Plots. The partnership will have the agency handling the brand’s social media business. 

Casella’s other wine brands, namely Peter Lehmann Wines and The Magic Box Wine Collection, have been in the care of Connecting Plots, and with Yellow Tail, the agency will also now be taking over its planning, digital, creative, and paid media.

According to a press release, the appointment comes after the winemaker’s audit of its social activities which led to the need for Yellow Tail to rethink its approach to social media and how it aligns with the overall marketing strategy.

Connecting Plots said that its newest recruits – Chris John, the new creative director, and Gemma Geraint, the new group account director – will lead the newly gained account.

“We are excited to be working with Connecting Plots on the Yellow Tail social strategy, content, and media for Australia. We already had a successful presence in social media but Connecting Plots challenged our thinking and provided us with a fresh perspective. We feel confident this new approach will deliver great results not only for the brand but also improve our return on investment,” said Anna Czarnocka, the global marketing manager of Yellow Tail.

Meanwhile, Tom Phillips, the managing director of Connecting Plots, said that the agency is thrilled to be extending its remit with Casella Family Brands, and help strengthen its presence in the market.

Tim Collier, the strategic director of Connecting Plots, also shared, “I’m so pleased to be working with Yellow Tail. Their business changed the face of Australian wine when it launched, and their brand continues to be an excellent example of what can be achieved when you subvert the norms of a category. We can’t wait to sink our teeth into the unique creative challenges they face and to start moving the dial on their business results.”

Australia – Global Out-of-Home media company JCDecaux in Australia has announced the promotion of Oliver Newton, former general manager of sales, to chief sales officer. 

Newton brings with him 15 years of experience in the sales industry. He has previously worked as the business development manager for JCDecaux UK in 2016, and thereafter, worked as the general manager of sales for JCDEcaux Australia in 2010. In his new role, Newton will be leading the JCDecaux agency and direct sales teams across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, as well as Adelaide, and Perth. He will also be driving deeper engagement with media agencies and advertising partners in an increasingly progressive Out-of-Home marketplace. 

Furthermore, Newton will be responsible for recognizing the breadth of customers that partner with JCDecaux. He will grow advertiser and direct advertiser relationships, as well as taking overall responsibility for the JCDecaux Nurture, a program that aims to provide support for Australian start-ups.

Commenting on his promotion, Newton said, “I am incredibly honored to take on the role of chief sales officer, ensuring that we deliver exceptional client service and have customer success at the heart of everything we do. We have a fantastic sales team across Australia at JCDecaux and I look forward to leading them to greater success.”

Meanwhile, Max Eburne, the chief commercial officer of JCDecaux, said, “Olly is a passionate and dedicated sales leader with a rare talent for identifying exactly what advertisers and agencies want. He has a proven capability in building strong, progressive, and service-oriented sales teams that will continue JCDecaux’s success in realizing the amazing opportunities that lie ahead of us.”

The company said that the promotion is part of a suite of initiatives to ensure that customer success is at the heart of JCDecaux, strengthening areas of the business to deliver ‘unrivaled’ customer experience and drive positive business outcomes for brands.

Sydney, Australia – Publicis Media’s ROI agency Zenith in Australia has promoted Jonny Cordony, former general manager, to the new role of managing director at Zenith Sydney. 

The appointment will see Cordony leading the brand’s vision for the Sydney office, developing high-performing teams, and driving strategic partnerships and growth outcomes for clients.

Prior to his new role, Cordony has previously worked as the national communications planning director for Zenith, and thereafter, became the Sydney general manager of the agency for almost three years. Before joining Zenith, Cordony has held group business director roles at various agencies, including media agency Bohemia Group and dentsu in Hong Kong.

Commenting on his promotion, Cordony said, “I am truly humbled by the opportunity to continue my progression in such a dynamic industry and business. From starting out as an account coordinator all those years ago to taking on such a hugely fulfilling, challenging and exciting role, I’d like to thank our amazing talent, clients, and strategic partners for all their support and trust. I am proud of our continued momentum at Zenith and I look forward to continually challenging ourselves as a business in 2021.”

Meanwhile, Nickie Scriven, the CEO of Zenith Australia, shared, “I am so thrilled to announce Jonny’s promotion to the newly-created role of Managing Director, Sydney. The expansion of his remit is a testament to his strong leadership of our Sydney office, people, clients, and new business pitches. Jonny is a key member of Zenith’s Executive Leadership Team in Australia and I look forward to his ongoing contributions to the agency in this next stage of his career.”

Australia – Global digital and conversational agency Versa in Australia has launched a navigation-less and bot-activated website – https://versa.agency, which utilizes AI-powered conversational bot technology, allowing visitors to ask for what they want using voice or text, without having to search for it.

Versa.agency is the first website to dynamically present relevant content based on an ongoing conversation with the website visitors. It delivers a human-centered experience through a digital concierge, which puts the power of search into the users’ hands and immediately creates a two-way conversation by asking visitors to type in their questions as soon as they arrive via chat or voice-enabled platform. 

According to the agency, the benefits of a navigation-less website include eliminating drop-down menus and tabs, and endless scrolling, making it easier for users to find what they want quickly by directing them to the information they are looking for. Brands can also deliver hyper-personalized experiences, content, and information, as well as deals without the need for users to login. 

Kath Blackham, the CEO of Versa, shared that AI-powered conversational tech addresses the challenge of impatient website users who have become conditioned to expect instant access to information.

“People now expect a seamless experience from websites, apps, and products. Navigation-less websites give brands the ability to create two-way conversations with customers and allow brands to collect and mine better data to address their customers’ needs more accurately. Voice navigation also has the potential to reach more people through the greater accessibility by being able to simply ask for what you want in your own words, regardless of language, literacy or ability,” said Blackham.

The website experience developed by Versa enables targeted and accurate recommendations through AI’s ability to interpret, understand, and provide relative content instantly, to further increase accuracy as the user clarifies their needs throughout the duration of the conversation.

The rich data and insights are continuously gathered and refined, allowing analysts to better understand what users are searching for rather than aggregating irrelevant data. The SEO is also enhanced by replacing rigid drop-down menus and tab structures with the ability to deploy new content and unlimited pages quickly, all with unique SEO strategies.