OMD Australia has appointed Brian Cronk to the role of chief product officer and bolstered its strategy team with the promotions of James Rawlings and Lisa Leach.
The appointment reflects the agency’s continued investment into its product offering and ongoing commitment to delivering for client partners and their changing needs, building on the national strength and success of the 2023 business restructure.
Cronk relocated from New York to rejoin OMD, bringing over 20 years of industry experience across the US and Australian markets, including two years with OMD Sydney’s foundation strategy team.
His breadth of experience spans agency to consultancy, building holistic experiences that have driven real results for clients across the fashion, technology, finance, retail and FMCG sectors. He has held leadership positions with BBH, Anomaly, 360i, Carat USA, and Spark Foundry. Cronk most recently consulted with Diageo North America to develop business solutions within communications.
Sian Whitnall, co-CEO of OMD Australia, called the chief product officer position a critical role for their partnerships. It focused on delivering enhanced outcomes for its clients through developing integrated solutions using OMD’s diverse capability.
Cronk brings to the role a wealth of marcom and experience design expertise that will support our clients as they continue to navigate a complex and fast-evolving landscape. As a member of OMD’s national executive leadership team, Brian will lead our planning and strategic community whilst working closely with Marelle Salib, chief investment officer, and Alison Costello, chief transformation officer.
On his appointment, Cronk said he was inspired by the vision co-CEOs Sian Whitnall and Laura Nice have for OMD and striving to challenge convention to create a collaborative and meaningful offering for client partners and the broader industry.
“Their passion but also their focus on the meaningful is partly what attracted me to return to OMD. I’m looking forward to working with the incredibly talented OMD team to connect our client partners with the agency’s best-in-class offerings to solve for their marketing and future growth ambitions.”
Whitnall added: “Alongside Brian’s appointment, we are incredibly pleased to announce the promotions of James Rawlings to group head of Strategy – Melbourne and Brisbane, and Lisa Leach to head of Strategy – Sydney. These elevations recognise the significant contribution that both James and Lisa make to OMD’s product community, alongside OMD’s head of Behaviour Change Peita Pacey, in driving market leading creative solutions that challenge convention whilst consistently delivering growth for all our partners.”
Rawlings said he was looking forward to expanding his role and broadening his remit across our Melbourne and Brisbane markets “to build upon the amazing strategic capabilities of OMD to deliver for our clients, and secondly to work with more closely with some of the most inspiring minds in our national product community.”
Leach said she was excited for the next step in her career, on her anniversary of five years with OMD. “It has been a privilege to work with the brilliant OMD Suncorp team, alongside a highly ambitious and collaborative client and with fantastic creative agency partners,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to bringing this experience to lead our strategic community across Sydney, augmenting our depth and scale with a challenger mindset, mentoring courageous thinking and exploring new ground,” Leach added.
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Top image, left to right: Brian Cronk, James Rawlings and Lisa Leach