EssenceMediacom – GroupM’s newest and largest agency – has named Pippa Berlocher as CEO in Australia & New Zealand. Berlocher joins from IPG Mediabrands’ performance marketing agency Reprise, where she was APAC president.
Berlocher will take over from Pat Crowley, who has successfully led the agency as it approached the merger of Essence and MediaCom, and has now chosen to step into a managing partner role leading the agency’s largest clients, including Commonwealth Bank.
EssenceMediacom officially launched globally on 31 January to deliver breakthrough thinking for brands, across every touch point within the entire customer journey for clients – from strategy and planning, media buying, analytics, creativity, digital, CX, and user experience.
EssenceMediacom is one of the largest agencies in Australia and New Zealand, with 550 people, close to $1 billion in billings (COMvergence) and a client list of global and local clients – including Adidas, Bayer, Commonwealth Bank, Dell, Fonterra, Google, KFC (AU), Lion (NZ) Mars, Myer, NBCUniversal, NIB, PlayStation, Queensland Government, The Coca-Cola Company, and Uber.
Berlocher has 15 years of experience in leading agencies in integrated media platforms, digital marketing solutions, adtech, and demand generation across different markets covering APAC, ANZ and Europe. She is a proven business leader with a track record for nurturing high performance teams and leading start-up businesses.
Berlocher is recognised as one of the Top 50 APAC Women Leaders by CMO Asia, and was shortlisted for Business Leader of the Year at Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Women Leading Change Awards in 2022.
Under her leadership Reprise APAC was named APAC Performance Agency of the Year in 2021 and 2022. She moved to Singapore in 2009 to launch the first DWA office in Singapore, which was later acquired by Merkle and is relocating back to Sydney to lead EssenceMediacom.
Crowley will continue to lead the agency and ensure a smooth transition until Berlocher joins in April.
Aimee Buchanan
Aimee Buchanan, GroupM Australia & New Zealand CEO, said: “As the transformation of EssenceMediacom progresses we’re evolving and shaping the team to make the most of the skills, expertise and passions of all our people to ensure we can deliver breakthrough thinking and ideas for our clients.
“Pat is a phenomenal client partner and will continue to lead EssenceMediacom’s largest client relationships and support the agency’s future growth. I want to thank him for everything he’s done over the past 18 months. I have absolutely adored working so closely with him on building out the EssenceMediacom proposition and I’m excited for him to step into his new role.”
“It’s an awesomely exciting time and I’m thrilled for Pippa to come home to Australia to join EssenceMediacom as CEO. She is a proven leader with the ability to drive transformational change. We have a strong leadership team, talented people and expert capabilities right across the agency in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
“This alongside the incredible clients we have will enable breakthrough thinking on some of Australia’s most iconic brands. With Pippa at the helm, and the support of Pat and the entire leadership team, EssenceMediacom will live and breathe the idea of breaking through in the new communications economy.”
Pat Crowley
Crowley said: “I’m super proud of what we’ve all achieved to build EssenceMediacom – the first truly scaled, digital-first comms agency, and I truly believe in our vision to deliver breakthrough thinking for brands. The past year working with Aimee, the local leadership team and the global network to reinvent a new agency has been an incredible, once in a lifetime career experience.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m super passionate about our industry, our clients and being really hands-on with the work, so that’s why I’ve made the decision to step into a role that allows me to focus purely on that. I’m delighted that Aimee, GroupM and EssenceMediacom have supported me to focus on my passions and I’m looking forward to working alongside Pippa as CEO.
“She is an incredible leader, and from spending time with her during the interview process, I have no doubt that she will continue to bring out the best in all our people, deliver for our clients and shape the future of EssenceMediacom.”
Berlocher said of her new role: “I’m absolutely thrilled to move back home and take on the CEO role for EssenceMediacom ANZ. Having the chance to lead a newly created agency, with the depth of talent and capability in EssenceMediacom and the scale of the global network is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am incredibly excited about.
“I love the agency’s positioning to deliver Breakthrough Thinking for Brands and really push the boundaries of where we can have an impact for our clients, empower our people and drive culture. I know we are going to create something truly special for the ANZ market and I can’t wait to get started,” she added.
EssenceMediaCom recently named Stevie Douglas-Neal as managing director of Sydney, and Matt Scotton joined in late 2022 as chief marketing and product officer. Jack Graham will shortly join as national head of planning.
See also: EssenceMediaCom appoints Stevie Douglas-Neal as managing director
See also: EssenceMediacom welcomes Matt Scotton as chief product and marketing officer
See also: EssenceMediaCom welcomes Jack Graham as its national head of planning
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Top image: Pippa Berlocher