Tag: anz

Australia – As quitting smoking has been proven to be a challenging effort for many, the South Australian Government has designated May 2021 as the ‘quitting’ month, and in line with this launches the new ‘Quit Your Way in May’ campaign, done in partnership with advertising agency Showpony Adelaide.

The ‘Quit Your Way in May’ campaign took a different approach to promote anti-smoking by using bright colors, quirky characters, and a stick-in-you-head jingle, which is unusual to many anti-smoking campaigns that confront people with negative ads highlighting health risks. 

The advertising agency has worked with renowned illustrator Timba Smits, who has collaborated with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Apple, Airbnb, Canon, and Disney. The campaign has launched across TV, digital, social, and press, as well as radio, with the event running throughout May this year.

According to Kirsty Mudge, the senior project officer at Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia, “Quitting smoking is hard, but smokers learn something new from every attempt. We wanted to create an opportunity for people to try quitting as part of a supportive, communal event.”

Meanwhile, Rory Kennett-Lister, the creative director of Showpony Adelaide, said, “Inspired by some of the great public health campaigns of the past, like ‘Life. Be in it’ and ‘Slip. Slop. Slap.’, ‘Quit Your Way in May’ is positive, inclusive, and light-hearted, empowering quitters by instilling them with confidence.” 

“Working with Timba was a delight. From the moment we pitched the idea to him he was excited about the possibilities. His illustrations really captured the positive, inclusive spirit we were trying to bring to life,” added Chris Kim, the senior art director of Showpony Adelaide.

Sydney, Australia – Employment services provider atWork Australia has awarded its creative account to independent advertising agency Archibald Williams, tasking the agency to launch its new campaign with ‘work is for everyone’ as the highlight.

atWork Australia helps Australians living with disability, injury, or health conditions look for a job, as well as those living with disadvantages, like socioeconomic. It also supports businesses in the country looking to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, through candidate supply, diversity, and inclusion workforce planning, among others.

This is the first time atWork Australia has used the services of an agency for above-the-line messaging. The appointment will see Archibald Williams handling television, OOH, and Digital and Social Media for atWork, as well as the launch of the new campaign in April 2021.

Sotir Kondov, the executive general manager of atWork Australia, shared that the organization is extremely excited for its first national brand campaign as they assert their commitment in providing excellent employment support services to make a real difference in people’s lives, and helping employers find great people.

“We are true believers that sustainable work is good for your health, including your mental health, and that a diverse and inclusive workforce is good for business. The line ‘Work’s for everyone’ is a great encapsulation of our mission to ensure that people living with disability, injury, health condition, or disadvantage have equal access to fulfilling work and that employers realize the benefits of a diverse, inclusive workforce.” 

Meanwhile, Kiranpreet Kaur, the head of client and strategic services at Archibald Williams, commented, “It has been such a privilege to partner with atWork Australia and highlight the crucial role they play in helping all Australians find employment. Having a job brings purpose and meaning to everyone. This campaign puts value on the skills that are incredibly valued in the workplace, and shows how they are developed in spades from living with a disability every day.”

Australia – DDB Group’s interactive agency Tribal Australia has recently appointed Colin Jowell, former director of innovation agency KPMG UDKU in Australia, to be its first-ever chief strategy officer, to strengthen the agency’s strategic capabilities and credentials. 

Jowell brings with him over 20 years of experience in the industry. He has previously worked in management consulting firm KPMG in 2018 following its acquisition of UDKU, an innovation agency he co-founded in 2013. UDKU is one of the early pioneers of brand-led customer experience design, notably launching Airtasker in its first major campaign, 

Jowell has also led the strategy department at media company M&C Saatchi for several years in South Africa, Malaysia, and Australia. He has also worked with blue-chip clients, such as health insurance agency Medibank, financial services companies AMP and Commonwealth Bank, and The Star and David Jones on CX innovation projects

Commenting on his appointment, Jowell said, “I’ve been a long-time admirer of the DDB group – their work, their talented people, and most importantly, their culture. Tribal has been behind some of the best recent examples of brands that not only deliver their promise through customer experience but deliver exceptional commercial results for their clients. To join an agency as they are expanding their already impressive track record of growth, creativity and impact are incredibly exciting.” 

Meanwhile, David Rennie, the managing director of Tribal Australia, also shared, “Tribal has gone through enormous change over the last couple of years. We’re focused on creativity, and we have some stellar work to show for it. Now, as we get closer to our partners and solve further upstream, we are adding serious credentials to our strategic offering. Colin brings a wealth of brand and experience knowledge, and will be the key to unlocking Total Experience in Australia and the Asia Pacific.”

The agency has also announced that it has turned its attention to rolling out a new global delivery model this year, known as Total Experience, which is made up of five expert practices that can stand apart or snap together, including customer experience, spark innovation, and technical engineering, as well as create, and business consultancy.

Australia – InMobi, the global mobile marketing and advertising platform provider, has announced two key senior appointments to ramp up its market presence in Australia and New Zealand.

The two senior appointments are Nicholas Robson, who was promoted to the newly created role of head of agency and strategic clients, and Aimee Jenkins, who was appointed as the new sales manager. Robson was InMobi’s former head of sales for NSW and QLD. Meanwhile, Jenkins has previously worked as the NSW sales manager for mobile-only ad tech company Kargo, and was a business development manager for women’s media group Mamamia. 

Both new appointments come as InMobi doubles down on its programmatic business in ANZ via the InMobi Exchange, which is a real-time marketplace for buying and selling online media advertising inventory from multiple ad networks, exchanges, and other supply-side partners, platforms, or publishers.

Richard O’Sullivan, the vice president and general manager of InMobi, who rejoined the company in 2019 to drive InMobi’s digital transformation and growth in ANZ, believes that the appointments of Jenkins and Robson will further strengthen InMobi’s strategic sales capabilities and will ensure that they are well-positioned to capitalize on the upswing in demand for InMobi’s mobile marketing platforms and solutions, especially InMobi Exchange. 

“In the last twelve months, the InMobi Exchange business in ANZ has grown by over 350%, from a strong base, as the impact of the pandemic has accelerated mobile-led digital transformation for brands and driven significant adoption of new products such as header bidding in parallel,” said O’Sullivan.

Australia – Havas Media Group, the media division of global marketing and communications group Havas, has appointed Alex Wollacott, former activation account director at Omnicom Media Group’s digital marketing agency, Resolution Digital Australia, to assume the newly created role within the agency – performance director.

Wollacott brings with her over six years of strategic skills and experience. She has previously worked across search, social, and programmatic, as well as SEO channels, and managed a team to deliver digital strategy and implementation for top-tier media clients. In her most recent role, Wollacott led digital activation channels for clients in the tech, FMCG, finance, and leisure verticals. 

Commenting on her appointment, Wollacott said, “I’m thrilled to be joining an agency with such an impressive reputation for a wide range of capabilities and services. The opportunity to work with Virginia and the team to drive the continued success and growth of the Havas Performance offering was impossible to pass up.”

Meanwhile, Adam Steward, the head of performance at Havas Media Group, shared, “I’m very excited to work alongside Alex and continue to expand our Performance Media leadership team. Her experience and passion for making media drive success for clients make her a valuable addition to our rapidly expanding media team. I am looking forward to building on the fantastic momentum that we already have with Alex.”

Havas Media Group has also announced the recent appointment of Dan Johns, the new managing partner.

Auckland, New Zealand – Experiential marketing solutions provider Limelight Platform has appointed Leon Hudson as its new managing director for the APAC region.

The appointment will see Hudson enabling the Canada-based marketing agency to support its growth in APAC, beginning with Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Hudson brings with him more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing strategy. He has previously worked as the strategic advisor for content marketing agency IMMedia Content, general manager for technology solutions company Re-Hub, and group head of revenue for advertising technology company CtrlShift.

Hudson said, “There has long been a disconnect between online and offline marketing; Limelight helps bridge the gap. With a contactless consumer journey, personalized communication, and numerous safety-related features, the platform’s latest version is ready for the post-lockdown rebound.” 

Meanwhile, Terry Foster, the chief executive officer of Limelight Platform, shared that the decision to appoint a managing director in the region arose from the agency’s strategic planning sessions in early 2021. The chosen strategy aligns with the needs of its long-standing global client base. 

“Hudson is a 20-year Martech veteran with a track record of success, including over 15 years in leadership roles across the Asia Pacific region. His experience will be invaluable supporting our global client base which is rapidly growing in the region,” said Foster.

Limelight Platform works for experiential marketing return on investment, live event data, and insights. The platform enables marketers to create, manage and measure experiential marketing campaigns and live events; crucial as the economy continues to reopen and the appetite for safe and secure human connection.

Australia – Experiential marketing agency George P. Johnson (GPJ) Australia and New Zealand has recently appointed Adrian Goldthorp, former senior creative director of design company Imagination, to be its new executive creative director, effective 6 April 2021.

Goldthorp brings with him over 25 years of local and international experience in creatives. He has worked with top-tier brands, which includes Samsung, Telstra, and Commonwealth Bank, as well as Westpac, and Jaguar Land Rover. Goldthorp has also creatively led noteworthy projects such as Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience and Samsung Vivid. 

The newly created role is expected to move the agency’s momentum as a creative powerhouse in the ANZ region. Goldthorp will be responsible for leading GPJ’s creatives across Australia and New Zealand. 

Commenting on his new role, Goldthorp said “I’m excited to join this passionate and high caliber team of creatives, as well as the opportunity to be a part of the agency’s new growth plan.”

Caleb Bush, the senior vice president and managing director of GPJ ANZ, believes that Goldthorp’s passion to craft effective and highly engaging campaigns will help the agency in connecting with people to build positive ongoing relationships.

“As we continue to drive creativity and innovation through all our work, Adrian brings unmatched experience and skills to complement the agency; for us, it’s a natural fit. The pandemic altered the face of the events and experiential industry so as we re-align the agency for continued growth in 2021, strategic hires like Adrian give us the confidence that GPJ will continue to be an industry leader for years to come,” said Bush.

Australia – Creative agency Special Group in Australia has appointed Max McKeon, former creative director of marketing and advertising company Colenso BBDO, to be its new creative director.

Prior to his new position, McKeon has previously worked with world-class brands, such as Toyota, Nestle, and Telstra. He also worked on renowned brands including DB Export, Monteith’s, Extra, and Pedigree, as well as Spark, and Eta, where he led campaigns like ‘I’m Drinking it for you’, ‘Take a Baby Step into Parenting’, and ‘That’s Why’. McKeon was also responsible for the famous ‘It’s a Tide Ad’ Superbowl spot and was awarded with over 100 individual recognitions. 

Commenting on his appointment, McKeon said “I am incredibly excited to be joining such an ambitious and talented group of people at Special Group. Their world-class and award-winning work is truly impressive and I can’t wait to be part of it.”

Meanwhile, Julian Schreiber, the chief creative officer and partner of Special Group Australia, said, “Max is a huge global talent. He’s had a real habit of making work in the past that’s always given us that gnawing envy feeling. Not only that, but he’s also grounded and a good human. So, there’s no doubt he’ll make a huge contribution to not just the work, but our entire agency’s culture.”

Special Group has also recently hired Matt Bladin, its new art director, and Phoebe Sloane, the new creative, to join the Melbourne-based creative team.

Sydney, Australia – Agnes Media, the measurement-first media agency, has recently launched in Australia, with global payment and shopping service Klarna as a foundation client. The new agency is founded by Charlotte Ward, former marketing consultant at marketing analytics company Insighten.

Agnes Media specializes in working with clients that have aggressive growth and measurement goals, helping them optimize their digital marketing campaigns and improve return on investment and advertising spend. The new media agency offers performance media strategy, planning, buying, and campaign management, as well as analytics, SEO, and creative design services.

Fintech giant Klarna has been working closely with Agnes Media on performance media management since 2020, with a specific focus on co-branded retail activity and shopper insights. Besides Klarna, the new media agency is also working with various brands both locally and globally.

Its founder Ward has previously worked in media across Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. She previously held roles at advertising platform Amobee, airline company Qantas, and media agency DWA Sydney, as well as marketing company OMD, among others. Ward decided to launch Agnes Media after a period of freelancing and building her own client base.

Commenting on the newly launched media agency, Ward said that having consulted across a number of businesses, it was clear to her that there was a real opportunity to zero in on performance media and maximize digital media campaigns’ effectiveness. 

Ward further shared that her goal is to help clients realize their digital marketing objectives, and she said the agency is a fully transparent one where clients own their data. Where Agnes Media comes in is providing them real-time reporting dashboards that pull in platform data from a range of sources for reports that align campaign performance and actionable insights that can be shared across the business.

“We’re delighted to have been working with Klarna to provide performance media and analytics. They’re such a dynamic brand; and being able to create truly flexible, scalable, easily-optimizable campaigns has been a massive benefit to their business. The best part, we’ve been able to provide our clients with meaningful, actionable insights that they’re now using to iterate and define future campaigns,” added Ward.

Australia – Havas Media Group, the media division of global marketing and communications group Havas, has tapped Dan Johns, former chief operating officer of media and marketing solutions agency IPG Mediabrands, to be its managing partner.

The newly created role will help further drive the digital and data capabilities of the business and will report directly to Virginia Hyland, the CEO of Havas Media Group.

Johns brings with him 27 years of experience as a senior executive in two known media agencies, namely IPG Mediabrands and Ikon. He has also previously founded independent consultancy Ippon, which has provided strategic and operational advice to a variety of blue-chip marketing businesses including advertisers, agencies, and media owners. Johns specializes in digital and data businesses, including audience buying, digital experience, and social marketing agencies. He will be joining Havas Media Group at an exciting time as the network accelerates its investment into data-driven, performance, and e-commerce capabilities.

Commenting on his appointment, Johns said, “The last three years working as an independent consultant to some of Australia’s most successful brands have been both a liberating and eye-opening experience. I am really looking forward to putting into practice all that I have learned to help Havas Media Group fast track its ambitions.”

Meanwhile, Hyland said that Johns is one of the most respected senior media operators within the industry, and believes that he will bring enormous digital, data, and technology capabilities to marketers who continue to focus on driving growth for their brands. 

“We are incredibly excited and proud to have someone of Dan’s caliber join our rapidly growing group as we continue to innovate and evolve. Dan’s wealth of experience will undoubtedly benefit our team and our clients, helping to elevate our thinking and capability in the ever-changing dynamic media landscape,” added Hyland.