Tag: initiative

Sydney, Australia – Media agency Initiative has announced the appointment of Danielle Galipienzo as head of Impact to lead its purpose-led consulting division. The appointment comes as the agency continuously develops the department, expanding from pro-bono partners to include paid services and impact consulting open to all clients.

She will be responsible for looking upon opportunities where Initiative can do its role of helping employees, clients, media partners, NFPs and other businesses to positively amplify the impactful work they’re doing. She will also create impact campaigns supported by a team across Initiative nationally. 

Galipienzo will retain her role as the agency’s client director. Working with Initiative, she has been a very intergral part in strategising the ad spaces and running campaigns of its clients.

Sam Geer, national managing director at Initiative, describes Galipienzo as a genuine market leader, and her experience and passion are evidences that she can lead Initiative’s impact division into its growth.

“We are in a unique position in our industry thanks to the resources, skills, and influence that we have. This new role will help me do my best work where I can effectively drive change in culture, for our clients and the industry,” Galipienzo expressed.

This year, Initiative has also appointed David Cook as its head of marketing and IQ. 

Australia – Regional food company Goodman Fielder has expanded the remit of media agency Initiative to now include retail marketing business, traditionally the domain of the business’ sales division.

Previously, Initiative was the media agency of record for Goodman Fielder, where it focused on the company’s above the line (ATL) media, including strategy, planning, buying, implementing and reporting. 

Work on the retail marketing side of Goodman Fielder’s media account commences immediately with first campaigns expected in market by the middle of the second quarter.

Jo McAlister, managing director at Initiative Sydney said the fundamental shift in the way Goodman Fielder is approaching its brand and retail trade marketing is a gamechanger; and Initiative’s team is thrilled to have the ability to take a more universal approach to investment, allowing best practice of having ATL, at-shelf and at-home to seamlessly work together.

“Combining brand and retail has been proven to provide Goodman Fielder with the strongest integrated media product possible. The work we collectively delivered for the widely recognised ‘Wonder Recycling Rewards’ campaign shows the closer these two worlds are, the stronger the results,” he explained.

McAlister also commented that it has also astounded them that less than 5% of retail media investment is managed via media agencies, a statistic Australia is lagging behind mature markets, and they feel it’s an untapped opportunity for brands to create an unfair advantage.

“We will harness the full capabilities of Cartology, Coles 360 and others, while leveraging our ATL media partners, to create a true consumer-first end-to-end solutions,” he said.

Meanwhile, Christine Fung, chief marketing officer at Goodman Fielder, commented, “Taking a holistic approach to our media and retail investment strategy has proven to deliver results for us, and we are delighted Initiative is our partner on the next stage of our growth journey as we accelerate our approach. We can’t wait to see what amazing results we can achieve as a team.”

Sydney, Australia – After a competitive pitch, media agency Initiative has retained its media remit for distillery company Pernod Ricard to work across the entire brand portfolio including all Pernod’s wine, spirit, whiskey, champagne, RTD and ‘new to world’ brands, focusing on Australia and New Zealand market.

Since its sealed partnership in 2019, Initiative has helped the company to propel into culture, with notable highlights including challenging gender bias through The Glenlivet Break The Rules campaign, tackling regional inequality through Absolut Pride Relay, and launching major brands like Malfy Gin and Altos Tequila into market. 

Jo McAlister, managing director at Initiative, said that the agency is excited for another 3 years of partnership with the company to continue its journey in leading ANZ’s competitive alcohol beverage markets across all brand categories.

“This is phenomenal news and we are so proud to continue our partnership. For the past three years we have grown together as brands, collaborating via a truly open and transparent relationship and enjoying an agency/client bond that I’ve rarely seen in market,” McAlister added.

Eric Thomson, CMO at Pernod Ricard Winemakers, added, “The chemistry between Initiative’s team and ours was evident from the start of our relationship three years ago and it has not waned. We are delighted to continue our partnership as we both push forward to produce effective and creative work that connects and engages our customers in an increasingly complex market.”

In January, Initiative also retained its media business remit for energy networks owner Jemena Limited, extending its 10-year relationship with the brand. 

Sydney, Australia – As Super Bowl 2023 draws near, media agency Initiative is bringing back its popular Super Bowl ad betting competition via the Marketing-Multi platform. The competition is open to all ad industry experts who want to test their power of prediction.

Built by Initiative’s Cultural Analytics department, marketing-multi is crowdsourced by industry experts across Australia and internationally to provide the most eclectic multi-market with odds updating live every day.

Currently, ‘Chat GPT created spots’, ‘spot featuring the British royals’, and ‘appearance of Nepo babies’ are amongst the odds industry pundits are betting on through its website, marketingmulti.au.

In the competition, punters can only bet if an outcome will occur (yes or no), and how many times they predict the outcome occurring. Scoring will be based on probability with the final odds from each day added to a punter’s daily score calculation.

Similar to last year, there will be no money involved but the participant with the highest cumulative score will earn an official ‘Marketing-Multi Super Bowl Ring’ and industry ‘bragging rights’.

“Arguably the world’s biggest advertising platform, Super Bowl sets the stage for the biggest benchmarks in creativity where brands open their wallets and take a punt showcasing their brand, in often outrageous ways, to win the one true ad-attentive environment,” said Chris Colter, chief strategy and product officer at Initiative.

Ryan Haeusler, head of communications design and architect of the platform also explained, “The aim of the game is to get as many legs right, with no penalties for a wrong punt, whoever strings together the most correct answers takes home the ultimate prize: water-cooling bragging rights and the lofty title of this year’s Super Bowl Nostr-AD-Amus.”

Launched on February 8 last year, Marketing-Multi is targeted at helping industry experts predict the best and most hilarious ads of The Super Bowl.

Australia – Media agency Initiative has announced the appointment of David Cook to the newly created national role of head of marketing and IQ. As the head of IQ, Initiative’s consulting division, Cook is tasked to deliver high-level strategic media recommendations to C-suite leaders. Within the role, he will also be leading the agency’s marketing program and supporting the agency’s focus on industry thought leadership and progression.

Prior to joining Initiative, Cook has previously held various strategic roles for different media outfits. In the past, he was a communication strategist for ZenithOptimedia and also assumed the strategy director position at Ikon Communications previously. In 2014, he became a strategy consultant for Match Media and was the strategy director of Bohemia Group for 2 years through 2016. 

It was in 2020 when Cook started handling marketing roles. Before officially joining Initiative, he was the head of trade marketing at broadcast media production Nine for 2 years. 

For the new role, Cook will be reporting directly to Initiative’s chief strategy & product officer Chris Colter and the agency’s national managing director, Sam Geer.

Commenting on Cook’s appointment, Colter said that Cook’s industry-wide reputation for sharp thinking and collaborative approach is essential for the growth agenda of the agency’s consulting division.

Colter added, “We are thrilled to have David join our team to expand Initiative’s IQ division which has experienced exponential growth since its launch in 2021.”

Meanwhile, Cook said that he is impressed with Initiative’s consulting proposition and its ambition to produce best-in-class client work. 

“I look forward to using my experience to date, and applying it through a slightly different lens. I can’t wait to get started,” he said.

Sydney, Australia – After a hotly contested pitch, media agency Initiative has retained its media business remit for energy networks owner Jemena Limited, extending a 10-year relationship with the brand. The win also comes with Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS), a media-fueled content practice of Mediabrands, expanding its creative remit for the same brand.

Initiative will be responsible for all national and local broadcast media buying, print, outdoor, radio, cinema, digital, search, social and addressable, and other media buying such as strategic and communication design responsibilities. Meanwhile, MBCS will handle all creative and production services and executions.

Melissa Fein, CEO of Initiative said that she is thrilled in re-signing a valued long-term partner. She also added that her team is energised in increasing Jemena’s customer base as it expands the network across regional and urban centres throughout New South Wales.

Fein added, “Jemena walks our talk; they are passionate about their customers, ambitious in their plans to decarbonise their networks and totally committed to a sustainable future, all traits Initiative values deeply. And our relationship has just got better with MBCS now on board, they’re an incredibly talented team and our cross-agency collaboration will help us continue to elevate the outstanding work we do on Jemena.”

Retaining its creative remit, Olivia Warren, managing director of MBCS expressed, “Jemena is a fascinating business with so much creative potential. Potential that is greater unlocked by having creative and media harmoniously working together under one roof. It makes collaboration easier, encourages new and gutsy perspectives and ultimately produces world class results for our clients. We can’t wait to get started.”

Meanwhile, Sandra Centofanti, head of strategy & marketing at Jemena Networks added, “Year-on-year Initiative brings fresh, exciting media thinking to the table; they understand our business intimately and deliver consistently strong results. We’re pleased to expand this relationship and onboard MBCS as our creative partners. Their connected approach to creativity and energy for our business was magnetic and we look forward to creating big things together.”

Sydney, Australia – Global media and marketing solutions group IPG Mediabrands has appointed Geoff Clarke as its chief operating officer for Australia. Clarke will retain his chief operating officer role and business growth development responsibilities for Initiative, a global media agency that is also under Mediabrands.

In his expanded role, Clarke will be responsible for driving operational and organisational improvements across the entire group. He will also continue to lead IPG’s transformation agenda throughout APAC while leading the operational integration and working system of Australian businesses. Clarke will also collaborate across the company’s entire client portfolio.

Mark Coad, CEO of Mediabrands Australia said that the expanded leadership role is a timely and well-deserved recognition for Geoff who has successfully led the Group’s transformational agenda.

Coad added, “Geoff is an outstanding leader. While still keeping his fingers 100 percent on the pulse at Initiative, he successfully positioned Mediabrands as an industry leader in the use of automation and BOTs considerably reducing repetitive and menial work and significantly improving the way we work across the entire group.”

In his three-decade media industry career, Clarke has established a background in investment, planning, and media buying. He worked for various agencies in London and eventually obtained a managing director position in Australia in 2013.

In 2015, Clarke started his role in Initiative as a client partner and later on promoted to chief operating officer. He has been instrumental in the agency’s growth and development in Australia.

For his new responsibilities, Clarke commented, “I am going to be busy, but it is an exciting time to be in the industry. My goal is for our clients to engage Mediabrands’ agencies knowing the unique business solutions we offer are fully effective and designed for ambitious growth.  This can only happen when the best operational and procedural innovations are in place and the most talented teams are available to service clients.”

Manila, Philippines – Maya, the newly rebranded and one of the leading financial superapps in the Philippines, has named IPG Mediabrands’ media agency Initiative as its media agency of record. The win followed a multi-agency pitch in October 2022. 

Initiative Philippines will be heading Maya’s integrated media mandate. This includes business analytics, audience understanding, media strategy, planning, offline, and full-funnel digital performance activation for the consumer and business segments of the total Maya portfolio.

“2022 was a tremendous year of brand and business growth as we relaunched from PayMaya to Maya, but the work has only just begun. With even greater ambitions in 2023, we must ensure that all our capabilities across the board are on the cutting edge,” said Pepe Torres, chief marketing officer of Maya.

He also added that Initiative proved to be the right media partner for Maya for being just as invested in its success as they are and being philosophically aligned with their “cultural velocity proposition.”

Paul Atienza, managing partner at Initiative Philippines also said, “Maya is a bold tech maverick that continues to stretch the limits and defy conventions in helping Filipinos make bolder financial choices. We could not be more thrilled to partner with them, driving Cultural Velocity to further protract growth for the Maya brand in years to come.”

Melody Laogan, managing partner at Initiative Philippines added, “This win is a testament to Initiative’s culturally driven and outcome-focused approach to integrated strategic planning. We share the same values with Maya, of being fearless, bold, and progressive. We are excited to raise the bar together.”

Initiative Philippines’ appointment is effective January 2023.

Last May, Paymaya rebranded as Maya with the aim to be known as an all-in-one finance platform for individuals and enterprises. 

Maya Bank’s parent firm Voyager Innovations has also previously boosted its total valuation to unicorn plus status.

Singapore – Initiative, the media agency under IPG Mediabrands, has appointed Niranjan Singh as its new head of communications in Asia-Pacific. In his new role, he will champion the application of best-practice approaches, techniques and solutions for modern experience design.

In addition, he will drive the connected communications design practice across key clients and sectors for Initiative APAC.

Singh will report to James Smyllie, president of Initiative APAC and is currently based in Mumbai, India prior to transitioning to the Initiative APAC regional headquarters in Singapore. His appointment is effective immediately. 

He has more than 16 years industry experience in strategic media planning and buying, and was previously the head of AOR at Mediacom Indonesia, leading the P&G business for three years.

Prior to that, he spent six years at GroupM, working across leading brands such as Colgate Palmolive, GSK and FrieslandCampina in India and Vietnam.

Speaking on his appointment, Singh said, “I’m thrilled to join Initiative APAC. Initiative’s unique proposition of achieving Cultural Velocity™ in the media-fragmented world to deliver real business growth and success for brands, was the big pull factor for me. I’m super excited to become a part of the team that has been winning Global businesses back-to-back.”

Meanwhile, Smyllie commented, “We are delighted to be attracting talent like Niran to Initiative. This hire reinforces our key focus on enhancing our Craft capabilities across APAC, and driving a consistently world class product throughout the region.”

The new Initiative appointment follows a slew of appointments made by agencies under the IPG Mediabrands company in APAC, namely the appointment of MBCS’ Olivia Warren to its Australia executive team, as well as of Sarah O’Leary and Tom Cumberworth for Initiative’s Rufus, the dedicated media and communications for Amazon.

Sydney, Australia – Rufus, the dedicated media and communications agency by Initiative for Amazon’s range of services, has announced new senior leadership appointments namely Sarah O’Leary as managing director and Tom Cumberworth as head of partnerships.

O’Leary has a strong media investment background garnered from 15-years in senior management and director roles both agency and marketing-side. 

Previously with Atomic 212 as Head of Client Service and Planning, O’Leary’s strengths lie in her leadership qualities and deep understanding of how media agencies operate within the ANZ landscape.

Meanwhile, with nearly 15-years of global and local experience, Cumberworth was previously group trading director at OMD Sydney where he led the Suncorp Group business, overseeing the investment strategy and decisioning for the entire portfolio across all media. 

Previously he was with Mindshare and MEC in the UK commencing in 2008 as a TV buyer and moving to an account director role working on clients such as Nike, News Corp, 3 Mobile and Kimberly Clark to name a few.

Melissa Fein, CEO at Initiative Australia said after a robust search and selection process she was delighted to welcome both Sarah and Tom to Rufus, who together bring specialist skills to the table and are charged with delivering high performance outcomes for Amazon.

“Sarah has a proven track record of leading senior stakeholder relationships and delivering business growth in today’s complex and fast-moving market. We’re delighted she has accepted the opportunity to lead Rufus at a pivotal time in the agency’s growth and momentum,” she said.

Fein added, “Tom is an outstanding team leader with a raft of global and local experience managing and leading specialist buying teams across all media platforms, inclusive of TV, VOD, OOH, Radio and more. He will play a leading role in Rufus, Amazon and our media partners’ future successes.”