At Mediabrands, we are committed to creating a diverse global community based on excellence and equity. We pride ourselves in attracting and retaining the best in the industry, across all disciplines and specialties. We seek out the best talent wherever we can find it and embrace people looking for new paths to forge. We deliberately foster a diversity of experiences and backgrounds and cultivate the sharing of different ideas and viewpoints as a critical part of our promise of innovation to clients.
As part of our commitment to equity, we are honest about the conscious and unconscious barriers to success that people from diverse backgrounds experience. We are determined to eradicate those obstacles in our company and create a truly people-centered culture where Everyone Is Able To Flourish And Succeed.
Mark joined Mediabrands Australia as CEO in February 2020. He is formerly CEO of PHD Australia and has more than 27 years’ industry experience. Having chosen the media industry as his career, he moved quickly through agency ranks and at aged 30 became one of the youngest media directors in the Australian industry. He was later appointed Managing Director at MEC Melbourne, aged 35. In 2003 Mark joined Omnicom Group, first as Managing Director of OMD Melbourne and later as CEO of OMD Australia where led the business to prominence, earning several industry awards and accolades. He was later CEO of creative agency Clemenger Harvie Edge for three years. In 2012 he returned to media as CEO of PHD Australia which he led to great success, prior to joining Mediabrands.
John is responsible for the financial management and commercial operations of Mediabrands Australia and its operating companies. The Australian operations are staffed by almost 700 people based in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Mediabrands Australia’s operating businesses include Initiative, UM, Reprise, Orion and Magna. John was appointed CFO in 2018 and had prior held several senior finance roles in the group. Before joining Mediabrands in 2012 John worked at Mindshare for 10 years in senior roles including Commercial Director.
Anathea joined UM Australia as CEO in April 2021. With a career spanning Australia, Asia and the USA, she was previously EVP, Managing Director of Carat West Coast and Mid-West USA, as well as West Coast Dentsu Office Lead. Prior to Carat, Anathea was based in Singapore as Head of Fuse APAC, part of Omnicom Media Group. She is also a former Managing Director of Mindshare Melbourne and Managing Director of Clemenger Harvie Edge. Anathea is also a recognised international awards juror, having judged Branded Content and Entertainment categories for Cannes Lions in 2015 and Lynx in 2016.
Melissa is an award-winning CEO with recent accolades including Campaign APAC 2020 Business Leader of The Year. She is a progressive, passionate change agent overseeing Initiative’s transformation with a ‘People First’ strategy. This has resulted in Initiative named 2019 ‘Media Agency of the Year’, ‘Best Agency Talent and Culture’ and ‘Best Agency People and Culture’ for Campaign Brief, Media Federation of Australia, and B&T respectively; No1. Agency for RECMA and R3 and Australian Workplace Equality Index Small Employer of the Year. Melissa is currently a Director of the Media Federation of Australia, a Member of Advertising Week’s Advisory Council, part of the PWC taskforce for the Pride in Diversity Ally Network and leads Initiative’s pro-bono work for Gotcha4Life. She is also a Board Member of Swimming Australia. Melissa holds Leadership and Strategy credentials from Harvard University.
Jackie is responsible for the growth and expansion of barter business Orion. She joined Orion in December 2019, bringing with her extensive experience in client service, strategic investment and market-leading trading. Since her appointment Jackie has expanded the Orion team and implemented strategies that strengthen and build relationships with both client and media partners. Jackie joined the Mediabrands family in 2001, starting with UM as Investment Director on Unilever. In 2004 she was appointed to the roles of National Trading Director for Initiative and APAC Regional Business Director on Revlon. She was appointed Commercial Director for Magna Global in 2012 and later General Manager, becoming instrumental in driving collaboration across the trading fraternity of IPG Mediabrands.
Maria leads Reprise Australia, Mediabrands’ digitally-led full-service performance agency. Previous to Reprise, Maria was Chief Data & Technology officer at UM Australia. She has worked in the media industry for more than 17 years, the majority of which has been leading the development and implementation of data-led transformation in media and brand communications. Reprise Australia has more than 150 people and offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The business works with many of Mediabrands’ clients across the group and also has independent clients.
Nick Durrant is Managing Director of Magna Australia, the media intelligence and investment division of the Mediabrands group. Magna’s ambition is to carve a new positioning in Australia founded on the principle of moving to outcome-based trading. Magna will spearhead this initiative partnering with and fuelling Mediabrands’ agency development in this area. Nick is general manager of investment at Magna where he leads capabilities in strategic media investment, as well as market intelligence and insights. He is previously chief partnerships and investment officer at Initiative Australia. Prior to joining Initiative in 2017 he was national general manager of trading at News Corp and before that he was national head of data and knowledge at Mindshare.
