AFFINITY has strengthened its media capabilities with the addition of two senior hires, Carmen Campbell and Billy Luu.
These appointments follow AFFINITY’s recent repositioning as a growth accelerator, moving away from the traditional agency model.
Campbell joins AFFINITY as group strategy lead. Previously head of strategy at Starcom, she brings extensive experience leading strategies for major brands, including Brown Forman, Metcash (IGA, ALM, Mitre 10), Visa, and Tourism Tasmania.
“What’s exciting about Carmen is she is a genuine triple threat. Not only is she a gun strategist with more than 20 years’ experience, but she’s worked at the highest levels in both media and creative to deliver growth for clients. A seasoned researcher, Carmen’s commitment to understanding consumer behaviour using a broad skill set of data analysis or more traditional research methods is icing on the cake.” explained Angela Smith, CEO AFFINITY.
“I worked alongside Carmen in our very early planning days, and she always stood out as one of the super smart and annoyingly curious ones. We couldn’t quite believe our luck that our paths crossed at a perfect time for us to be able to create this role for her,” added Smith.
“The chance to work at a strategic advisory level across four critical adjacencies of Brand & Creative, CX & CRM, Data & Tech and Media was a perfect growth opportunity for me to apply the learnings across my career in marketing,” said Campbell.
“Straight away I’ve loved the cross-functional approach at AFFINITY, we’re working on some seriously ground- breaking products and thinking that is not only making huge impact for our clients but will revolutionise the way we think about media,” she added.
Ready to make an equally transformative effect on AFFINITY’s media expertise, Luu has stepped into the role of group media lead after his most recent stint as national digital director at Howatson & Company.
His 20 plus years of industry experience across the globe includes an extensive tenure at PHD, leading the media investment smarts for Unilever, PepsiCo, Bayer, Porsche, HP and Beam Suntory as well as national trading lead at Atomic 212.
Smith shared the motivation for offering Luu the role, “Billy is a firebrand for the potential of media to drive competitive advantage and brand growth through strategic thinking as well as demonstrating a brilliant mind when it comes to process, operations and implementation.”
“His passion for bringing home outstanding outcomes for our client partners is exceeded only by his capabilities as a highly skilled practitioner across every possible permutation of media. Billy’s energy levels are off the charts and we’re inspired by his ambition to help shape a media offering that will be relevant to businesses into the future,” she added.
In taking on the opportunity, Luu said “It’s such a great time to be joining AFFINITY. The team have built an offering leveraged to support ambitious businesses across all functions of marketing from advisory, creative, CX, data & tech and media. I’m thrilled to be part of an award-winning team that dedicates itself to driving effective and provable business growth.”
“The difference for me is that the whole set up is designed to maximise our time to think critically and solve our client’s business problems. I can honestly say I haven’t ever experienced such a clear purpose and brand DNA; it’s just so cool to know that what you’re doing makes a difference.” he concluded.
“At AFFINITY, we are all about delivering transformative growth, and both Carmen and Billy embody that mission perfectly,” concluded Smith.