Mediaweek’s Media Movers charts the biggest people moves in the industry over the past week.
Psembi Kinstan has been promoted to chief creative officer of DDB Group Melbourne.
Kinstan joined DDB Melbourne in 2021, heading the DDB, Mango and Tribal teams. He instilled a culture of creativity at the agency and in his work with the leadership team, setting the agency’s vision ‘To do the best work of our careers and have the best time doing so’.
His efforts have helped grow the agency’s headcount to over 100, following major client wins, including Coles, Asahi CUB, Acciona, Movember, Mr Chen’s, Dabble, Funlabs, Agrifutures, Made by Dyslexia and Our Watch.
Kinstan was also integral in creating Smith Street – DDB & OMD’s best-of-Omnicom, bespoke Coles agency – while also building the agency’s social and innovation-led teams.
Susan Panuccio
News Corp announced last week that Susan Panuccio will step down from her role as chief financial officer on January 1, 2025.
She will be succeeded in the role by Lavanya Chandrashekar. Panuccio will continue in an advisory capacity for six months to help ensure a smooth transition and to support Chandrashekar.
Panuccio has been a key leader during a period of rapid expansion and transformation for News Corp since becoming chief financial officer in March 2017.
Schwartz Media has promoted Erik Jensen to chief executive officer, replacing Ben Shepherd in the role. The company explained Shepherd has resigned to pursue other opportunities, having worked effectively to bring new processes and thinking to the company.
“I have appreciated the opportunity to lead a business that is committed to the sustainability and support of independent public interest journalism,” Shepherd said.
“I am proud of the progress made this year and have full confidence Erik Jensen will continue to increase the positive impact Schwartz Media and its brands have on Australian readers and listeners. He has been an exemplary editor and journalist for over a decade and will make an equally strong chief executive.”
Shepherd joined Schwartz Media 10 months ago. During that time he has also built his three-minute LinkedIn weekly media and advertising newsletter called Signal.
Sue Brenchley and Sam Hall
Sue Brenchley and Sam Hall are stepping down from their roles with Fetch TV in December.
Brenchley, who has been marketing director for 15 years, will leave the company, which reaches over 710,000 households and 1.8 million Australians. She was an integral member of the Fetch TV executive team and built the business from an ambitious start-up to a key player in the Australian in-home entertainment landscape.
Hall, who joined Fetch over eight years ago as chief content and commercial officer, will also bid farewell to the company, having made a huge contribution as a member of the executive team and as the face of Fetch in the international content community.
Dominic Arena, Fetch CEO, will announce a refreshed Fetch executive team and organisation structure aligned to its Fetch 2.0 strategy in coming weeks.
Arena said: “Sue and Sam have been strong leaders on the front line of Fetch, and I thank them both for their contributions and dedication to Fetch TV over many years… I genuinely wish Sam and Sue all the best for their futures.”
Emotive has appointed Alice Tschuchnigg, former executive head thinker at Thinkerbell, as business & culture director.
Tschuchnigg will take the reins on a portfolio of high-profile accounts including Wotif, Mount Franklin and HelloFresh. Beyond her responsibilities in account management, Tschuchnigg will play a pivotal leadership role in overseeing the People & Culture program, helping to deliver on the agency’s vision, ‘the best place to work to do the best work of your life’.
Prior to her role at Thinkerbell, TschuchniggTschuchnigg was at BMF, leading the ALDI account, where she and her team secured multiple EFFIEs and D&AD awards. Before returning to Australia, Tschuchnigg spent three years at Droga5 New York, where she worked on global accounts.
Sammy J
Sammy J is set to turn off the microphone next month after five years as the host of ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast.
He began hosting just weeks before the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, becoming a source of fun, information and companionship for locked-down Melbournians.
“Hosting Melbourne Breakfast was an unexpected opportunity that became an unexpected joy,” Sammy J said. “But radio demands all of you and deserves nothing less, and after five years I’m ready to trade the 4:15am alarm for more regular hours.”
“I leave with pride, gratitude, and a litany of cash-for-comment scandals that will be revealed in due course.”
NAB has appointed Natalie Lockwood as chief marketing officer (Executive, Group Marketing).
Lockwood brings a wealth of experience from her most recent role at Visa, where she served as vice president, brand and marketing for Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific over the past three years.
Prior to her tenure at Visa, she held senior leadership roles, including general manager of marketing at ASX Ltd.
Civic Data has appointed Paul Broomfield as senior consultant to lead its new Western Australia operation as local marketers face unprecedented challenges to their digital capabilities and investments.
Broomfield’s appointment comes amid rising concerns for marketing and privacy leaders alike, such as the convergence of Australian privacy reforms, Western Australia’s State PRIS legislation, and last week’s clear guidance and statement from the Australian Privacy Commissioner on ‘tracking technologies should not sidestep privacy obligations’.
Patrick Forth
Fabulate has appointed Patrick Forth as its new chairman. He joins the influencer marketing platform as it celebrates its five-year anniversary, having established a firm foothold in the Australian creator economy as the preferred influencer marketing technology partner of the majority of Australia’s influencer and PR agencies.
Forth was the former managing director of the Boston Consulting Group in Australia and has advised many onshore and offshore media/technology companies during his thirty-plus-year tenure at the consulting group. In 2022 was named on The Australian Financial Review’s list of most powerful consultants.
Matt Coote has been appointed as the country manager for GumGum in Australia.
Coote will lead the sales team, guide effective cross-functional strategies, and expand the contextual intelligence company’s footprint in Australia.
His focus will include driving revenue, strengthening relationships with agencies and clients, and representing GumGum at key industry events. He will also oversee trading deals, ensuring consistent value for partners and clients.
Nick Muncaster
News Corp Australia today announced the appointment of Nick Muncaster as Managing Director of its full service video production agency, Visual Domain.
He will spearhead the growth of the Melbourne-headquartered company, enhancing its reputation for the delivery of world-class content creation and production capabilities.
Muncaster brings more than 25 years experience to the newly created role, having worked for some of the world’s biggest advertising agencies including Ogilvy, Wunderman Thompson and most recently as Managing Director at AJF Partnership.
Muncaster said of his appointment: “In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving digital landscape, visual storytelling is more important than ever for brands and companies. I am thrilled to join Visual Domain to help our clients create impactful content that fosters stronger consumer connections, boosts engagement and drives sustainable growth.”
Nine has confirmed to Mediaweek that additional leadership changes have been communicated within its TV News division. The network is initiating both internal and external recruitment processes for news director positions in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.
Simon Hobbs, Nine’s Sydney news director, is the latest senior executive to exit the network. He has worked as director of news in Sydney since 2012.
His departure follows last week’s sudden exit of Queensland news director Amanda Paterson, who was called into a meeting shortly before staff were informed of her departure. According to The Australian, Paterson has now sought legal representation.
Chloe Woodhouse
Brand activation agency Because ANZ is accelerating business development across Australia and New Zealand, appointing Chloe Woodhouse as the newly created director of growth.
Collaborating with brands such as Woolworths, Sydney Water, Kraft Heinz, and AGL, Because blends live shopper and digital to build relationships between brands and consumers.
Woodhouse joins Because ANZ to capitalise on the growing demand for brands to harness activations and foster stronger relationships with consumers to drive consideration, loyalty and sales both in the short and long term.
Urban List, a lifestyle publisher, has strengthened its executive team by appointing Alex Dickinson as head of content. Dickinson has over 15 years of global media experience.
Dickinson began his career at The Courier-Mail before moving to New York, where he held key roles at The New York Post, Bloomberg, and the former Gizmodo Media Group.
As executive managing editor at Gizmodo, he was instrumental in growing the reach of brands like Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Deadspin, and Jezebel, collectively attracting a monthly audience of over 100 million.
Following a prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, Dickinson joined The Code Company, a software agency focused on web infrastructure for media organisations.