Global Keynote

Tom Beckman

Tom Beckman is the Global Chief Creative Officer at Weber Shandwick, and he serves since 2015 in the Global Creative Leadership Group for McCann WorldGroup.

Under his leadership, Weber Shandwick has been the most awarded PR-firm in the world four times the last five years. And Tom has won most industry awards, including Cannes Grand Prix and recognition from the UN.

Tom is a frequent jury member and key note speaker at international industry event including Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, Eurobest, Spikes Asia, Ad:tech London, Global PR summit Miami and ICCO.

As a TED Ads Worth Spreading Advocate Tom was part of the exclusive group of industry experts overseeing the advertising initiative of TED.

Michelle Andrews

Melbourne writers Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews independently launched the Shameless podcast in 2018 at the age of 23. Over the last five years they have used the success of the show to launch Shameless Media - one of the country’s biggest youth media companies with more than 55 million downloads and 700,000 social media followers to its name. Now they manage a team of nine and release multiple popular audio products a week; Shameless, the pop culture podcast for smart people who love dumb stuff, SCANDAL, which unpacks the biggest celebrity controversies in history, The Shameless Book Club, the safe space for “chick lit” and Everybody Has a Secret - every gossip-fiend’s dream.

Zara McDonald

Melbourne writers Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews independently launched the Shameless podcast in 2018 at the age of 23. Over the last five years they have used the success of the show to launch Shameless Media - one of the country’s biggest youth media companies with more than 55 million downloads and 700,000 social media followers to its name. Now they manage a team of nine and release multiple popular audio products a week; Shameless, the pop culture podcast for smart people who love dumb stuff, SCANDAL, which unpacks the biggest celebrity controversies in history, The Shameless Book Club, the safe space for “chick lit” and Everybody Has a Secret - every gossip-fiend’s dream.

Julie Scarff

A marketing career spanning 20 years across all aspects of brand, retail, sponsorship, and digital communications.

Julie has spent the last 10 years at Volkswagen Group Australia building engaging campaigns and delivering long-term strategies to increase.

brand awareness and consideration. She has a passion for pioneering new and innovative was of connecting with customers.

Elle Beattie

Elle Beattie is an accomplished Executive Producer and Managing Producer with extensive experience across radio and podcasting. She spent over a decade producing some of the highest rating radio shows in Australia including Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty drive show and was nominated twice for Best Producer at the ACRAs.

Elle was Executive Producer for Mamamia where she helped launch their daily news podcast The Quicky, before joining NOVA Entertainment as Managing Producer in January 2021. In her current role, she is responsible for NOVA’s slate of original podcasts including the multi-award-winning podcast Project Ari (Australian Podcast Awards 2021, Native Advertising Awards 2022 & ACRA 2022), Dear Clementine, and Hennessy’s Hotline among many others.

Elle is also a qualified Trainer and Assessor and enjoys mentoring media students and talent that are new to the industry.

Ben Watts

Ben Watts is Spotify’s Head of Studios. He heads up podcasting for Spotify in Australia and New Zealand, which includes the commissioning of Original podcasts, licensing Exclusive podcasts and ensuring that Spotify helps all podcasts maximize audiences on the platform. Having previously led digital initiatives for everyone from Rolling Stone to Big Brother to ninemsn, he fell in love with podcasting whilst working on the ABC’s audio distribution strategy. He was the Editorial Lead for Apple Music before returning to podcasting with his position at Spotify.

Marion Boeri

As Global Lead of Thought Leadership research, Marion's key role is to establish and enhance the vision, strategy, and execution of Spotify's Ad revenue business through cutting-edge research. Her mission is to direct and elevate Spotify's research strategy, positioning the platform as a thought leader in the industry.

Adrian Bingham

Adrian Bingham is the Head of Sales for Spotify in Australia and New Zealand, overseeing the entirety of the sales function within the region. Within his role, Adrian is responsible for building and developing partnerships with agency holding companies, working closely with CMO’s and their teams.

Adrian boasts an established record of sales leadership, operational brilliance, revenue generation, and a deep interest and passion for people, technology, media and innovation.

Before joining Spotify in 2016 Adrian’s prior sales experience encompassed Cinema and OOH advertising.

Bec Alexander

Having worked both sides of the fence at creative and media agencies, Bec's 11-year strategist career has been focused on delivering hybrid strategic thinking. With a belief that the intersection of brand planning and connections thinking is where interesting and effective work lives, Bec has developed award-winning campaigns across a blue-chip client set. This includes IAG, Treasury Wine Estates, Lion Nathan, Newscorp, NSW Government and more.
Most recently, Bec's passion for sport and music brought her to Southern Cross Austereo where she hopes to educate the market on how to bring audio to life through a creative application of the channel.

Ford Ennals

Ford is CEO of the peak body Commercial Radio & Audio, the industry body which represents the Australian Commercial Radio Broadcasters encompassing over 260 radio stations across Australia and the major radio and audio groups SCA, ARN, Nine, Nova, ACE, and Super Radio Network. CRA works to protect, empower, and grow the radio and audio industry working with Government and regulators, media agencies and advertisers, and key stakeholders like digital platforms, retailers, and automotive companies. Additionally, CRA oversees the collection and reporting of radio and audio listening data working with key research partners such as GFK, Nielsen, and Edison. In collaboration with Triton CRA oversees the development and reporting of the Australia Podcast Ranker.

Ford took over the position of CRA CEO in April 2022 and previously oversaw the digitization of TV and radio services in the UK as CEO of Digital Radio UK. Prior to working in digital media, Ford had a successful marketing career starting at Mars Inc and working as Chief Marketing Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, British Airways, and Reebok.

Jen Beirne

Jen is an award winning marketing leader with over 10+ years experience spanning across Europe and APAC. Jen is passionate about the convergence of traditional and modern media marketing techniques to reach and engage customers, and in her role as Head of Marketing for Amazon Alexa, she is continually working with brands to help them explore voice as a new communication channel to connect with their customers. Alongside this, Jen and team are also responsible with helping customers discover the benefits of voice technology, driving adoption of Alexa across the Australia and New Zealand region.

Samantha Barrett

Samantha is an award-winning digital specialist with 10+ year’s experience helping brands leverage new technologies to reach their audiences, across US and APAC. She has been building engaging brand experiences for Alexa since launch in 2014 and currently leads Business Development for Alexa across Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson is the co-founder of Fear and Greed, which is home to Australia's most popular business podcasts. He spent 15 years in radio, including a long stint as Executive Producer of the Ray Hadley Morning Show, before becoming Head of Content at Macquarie Media. He has won numerous awards including four Australian Commercial Radio Awards and a Kennedy Award for Journalism. Michael is also the author of the novel How To Be Remembered, published in March 2023. 

Ainslee Horstman

Ainslee Horstman is General Manager of Commercial Networks for News Corp Australia, leading the company's on-demand audio arm, NewsCast. Ainslee is responsible for driving the expansion and advancement of News Corp Australia's podcast network by utilising the unique power of audio to attract, engage, and monetise new and existing audiences. Ainslee is a product, sales and media strategy specialist with a career spanning more than 17 years. Prior to joining News Corp Australia, Ainslee worked at Fairfax Media and ninemsn.

Daniel Box

Dan Box is the Editorial Director of Audio for NewsCast, News Corp Australia's on-demand audio arm. An accomplished journalist, author and podcast creator, Dan is the Executive Producer of I Catch Killers with Gary Jubelin and works alongside the company’s newsrooms to commission and create audio programming that builds upon the award-winning podcasts produced by News Corp Australia’s mastheads. Dan has worked for The Australian, the BBC and The Sunday Times in London. He is the host of the Bowraville and Bloodguilt podcasts and bestselling author of four books; Carry Me Home, Bowraville, I Catch Killers and Badness (the last two co-written with Jubelin). He has also produced and reported for radio documentaries broadcast by the BBC.

Alex Pacey

Alex Pacey is Chief Product Officer at Omnicom Media Group, Australia largest and most successful Media Group. Alex’s background is Comms Planning the importance of which he has long championed across all major product categories in a twenty-four-year career. For the last 3 years Alex has been responsible for the Strategy and Planning output across PHD Australia before making the move into a newly created group role.

James Wills

James is a creative director at VMLY&R Melbourne. In his first two years in the role, VMLY&R Melbourne was named the #3 hottest creative agency in Australia by Campaign Brief, it won the coveted Defence Force Recruiting account and had eight campaigns recognised internationally.

His campaign for Alcohol Think Again was recently named the most powerful alcohol education ad in the world, and he’s a regular guest lecturer at RMIT University, which runs Melbourne’s premier advertising course.

But it’s not all about ads – James also has a passion for music and sound. His band has won multiple West Australian Music (WAM) Awards for ‘Best Metal Band’, and he’s been nominated for the WAM best drummer award. He’s currently working on a solo electronic ‘synth doom’ project, which he started during COVID lockdowns.

Robyn Bergmann

Robyn Bergmann is an accomplished Creative Director at the advertising agency, VMLY&R. She began her career in South Africa, working as a young Art Director in the country’s top advertising agencies. She is now based in Melbourne where she creates innovative campaigns for some of Australia’s biggest brands including Defence Force Recruiting.

Robyn has won many creative and effectiveness awards including South Africa’s first Cannes Lion Gold in film in 11 years for Topsy 'Selinah’. In 2011 this piece of work was chosen as one of the top 10 ‘ads worth spreading’ at TED talks. ‘Selinah’ was also listed as one of the top ten ads of the decade in 2020 by Little Black Book.

She is the Co-Vice President of the MADC - the Melbourne Advertising, Design and Creativity Club, and a founding member of The Aunties, a support program that protects and champions women in creative industries.

Ralph van Dijk

Ralph is a world authority on effective audio advertising and sonic branding.

He started his career as an agency writer winning a Clio Award for one of his first radio ads. He got the hint and has specialised in audio ever since.

Ralph founded Eardrum in London in 1990 and expanded to Australia in 2006. Eardrum is now the most awarded audio agency in the world, writing and producing effective campaigns and branded podcasts for advertisers and their agencies around the world.

He’s driven by a determination to innovate, subvert and explore new ways for brands to connect to their audience through audio-led campaigns. In 2020, he partnered with music production agency SongZu to launch Resonance, a specialist sonic branding agency, and already they have created sonic brand identities for Canva, Jetstar, Budget Direct, Commbank, Laver Cup and the Australian Open.

Ralph’s most recent highlights include Gold at the Transform ANZ awards, the  One Show Grand Prix, three Gold Cannes Lions and a New York Festival Gold. 

In recognition of these accolades, he was selected as one of the ‘advertising legends’ to serve as jury President at the 60^th anniversary of the Cannes Lions Festival.

Paul Le Couteur

Paul’s career in sound began in the early 1980’s and has been crafted and honed over the last few decades to shape the creative innovator he is today.
From a dispatch boy at George Patterson in Sydney – to Melbourne’s Head of Sound for Squeak E Clean, with intermediate years at leading studios Flint Webster and Flagstaff Studios, Paul is known for his integrated skills as an audio technician and sound designer who has a special interest in casting and directing actors. In the studio, Paul transitions seamlessly from managing and interpreting a room of creatives and clients, to directing and guiding an actor’s performance and then discussing the nuances of music recording and post mixing. A true all-rounder.
Paul’s work has been awarded over the years at both a national level at MADC, Award Awards and Sirens through internationally to Cannes, LIA, NY Festivals and Spikes, and he is a panel member and judge for the Sirens. He has been a craft judge for Award, Clios, LIA and AICP. Amongst all the enjoyable and sometimes immensely challenging jobs, a special mention goes to the “Letters of Gallipoli” Campaign and the long-standing Myer Christmas Campaign animated by Aardman.
Paul is an open-minded collaborator who loves working with all creatives and is a true advocate for ‘The Idea’ with a deeply instilled love of sound.

Danny Bass

As Chief Executive Officer of dentsu’s media portfolio across Australia and New Zealand, Danny oversees the strategic direction and growth of the Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X brands.

Danny has more than 20 years’ experience in digital media to dentsu. Prior to joining dentsu, he was Director of Snap, Inc and formerly CEO of IPG Mediabrands Australia and Chief Investment and Chief digital officer at Groupm ANZ.  His background has included building an industry-recognised digital trading platform to change the way media is bought and sold, and he played a pivotal role in establishing the digital arms of News Corp Australia.

Importantly for dentsu, Danny holds a strong reputation as a force for good in the industry and as an active advocate of workplace equality, diversity, and inclusion.  He brings a leadership style inspired and influenced by his work in the for-purpose space, underpinned by his role as Chairman of UnLtd, a social purpose organisation connecting the media, marketing, and creative industries with charities helping children and young people at risk.

Danny is Co-Founder of Berry Hill Farm, an incredible 190-year-old private property found on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, 1.5 hours from Sydney. The farm has been set up as a place where individuals and groups can embrace creativity and switch off from the business of the city.

Laura Wiseman

After spending the first five years of her career client side in the fashion industry, Laura saw the agency light and moved into strategy at TBWA\Melbourne, working across a range of sectors including beverage, finance, tourism, and government. Combining her love of strategy with her passion for sexual liberation has been a highlight of her career so far.

Brooke Pilton

Over 20 years’ experience in the communications industry specialising in brand management, sponsorship leverage and activations.  Brooke has worked across many passion points; fashion, sport, technology until finding her home at BRING/Universal Music Australia and the world of music. Brooke is responsible for helping brands navigate their message through music, executing high impact campaigns with proven results.

Jules Hall

Starting out as a management consultant for Accenture Jules moved into the world of advertising in 2000, taking a job at one of London’s early digital agencies. After moving to Australia, Jules founded The Hallway in 2007 with a mission to build an advertising agency that could be more relevant, more effective and more interesting.

Together with Creative Partner, Simon Lee, the two have grown The Hallway into one of Australia’s top agencies, winning awards around the world for their creativity and effectiveness.

Outside of work, Jules blames his sporting background for his competitive edge. In 1993 he represented Great Britain at the world rowing championships. These days sailing has replaced rowing. He has competed in most of the world’s major ocean races including five Sydney-Hobarts, winning the inaugural two handed division in 2021.

Simon Lee

Simon’s purpose is to be a creative catalyst for a flourishing world - and over the last decade he and business partner Jules Hall have successfully built a business that delivers on that purpose. Their agency, The Hallway is one of Australia’s leading creative indies and as Chief Creative Officer and joint owner, Simon leads a passionate cross-disciplinary team in the development of Affective Ideas: ideas that affect positive impact - for businesses, society and the world at large. In 2022 his Boys Do Cry campaign captured the attention of the world, reaching over 100 million people, encouraging over 40,000 men in Australia to seek help for mental health challenges, and winning a host of national and international accolades. Simon is an outspoken thought leader, passionate educator, mentor and doting father to two teenage girls.

Nick West

Nick West understands how sound makes brands tick. He has a deep appreciation of the role sound plays in expressing a brands personality and over the years has worked on the sonic identity of numerous iconic brands such as Medibank, Panadol, Kayo Sports, Event Cinemas, Optus and Binge to name a few.

He Co-founded the award winning studio Smith and Western Sound that was established in 2011 and has curated sound for hundreds of projects over the years. In 2021 along with business partner Dan Higson, he launched a sub brand of the company called S&W Sonic Branding that is purely focussed on sonic branding solutions for brands worldwide.

Lucie Jansen

Lucie began her career in London as a TV buyer and has worked in investment leadership roles across the UK, Hong Kong and Sydney. She is now Chief Investment Officer at Spark Foundry Australia where she leads a team of 50. She is a member of the National Leadership Team and the Publicis Investment Council. She is an expert in navigating the media market, leading investment strategy for all Spark Foundry clients including Toyota, Westpac, Allianz, J&J, Arnott’s and Expedia Group. 

In 2021, Lucie was named in Campaign Asia Pacific’s “40 under 40” Emerging Leaders. She is a mentor for several of the industry’s female talent. She strives to inspire, develop and guide, ultimately playing her part in eradicating gender bias and discrimination.

Sam Geer

Sam Geer is a strategist by trade, who over the past 15 years has worked across some of the biggest brands in the world including Coca-Cola, Amazon, LEGO, Bunnings, Audi, AB In-Bev, Lion and Government. Sam’s career has taken him to New York where he worked for many years before returning home to Australia.

More recently, Sam has helped drive one of our local industry’s biggest agency transformations at Initiative where we began as Chief Strategy officer before moving across to become National MD two years ago. Much of the agency’s success has been born from their globally awarded culture and employee experience which is rooted in inclusion and empowerment for all. Initiative has been named Employer of the Year, Agency of the Year and Best Industry Culture by every trade press title over the past few years.

Despite an insatiable hunger for work, Sam is most proud of his family, having two beautiful children, Violet and Bowie, with the love of his life Winnie.

Ian Perrin

Ian is a media strategist by trade having worked on numerous blue-chip brands across Africa, North America and Asia. Having started his career at Ogilvy and Mather in South Africa, he moved to MindShare New York before taking a Regional Strategy Director role at MindShare Sydney. He was Managing Director of Naked Communications before a four-year stint as CEO of ZenithOptimedia Australasia. He launched independent media agency SPEED in 2017 with his business partner Duncan Parfitt and they currently look after brands such as Colonial First State, Carnival, Taco Bell, Archie Rose, Dulux, Clear Skincare, Boody, Elmo and Wisr.

Kirsty Muddle

Kirsty Muddle is CEO of Dentsu Creative, Australia & New Zealand. Dentsu Creative is a global network that transforms businesses and brands through the power of creativity.

With a focus on bringing modern creativity to life, Kirsty finds innovative ways to help clients grow their brand and form deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers. She leads a team of passionate people across creative, strategy, production, earned attention, digital experience, entertainment, public relations, content, social media, indigenous affairs, and government relations.

Kirsty started her career in Econometrics at a WPP agency in London and still maintains her love for the interplay between humans and data. She was one of the Founding Partners and CEO of a globally awarded independent agency before joining dentsu. Kirsty has been awarded Women of the Year and Executive of the Year twice, sat on the Advertising Standards Board of Australia and appears on ABC’s Gruen.

Elliot Struck

Elliot is multifaceted creative who started his career as a staff writer at a lifestyle magazine in Sydney. Over a seven-year tenure, he rose to Editor in Chief, while also moonlighting as a freelance content and social manager for Nike and Red Bull.

After relocating to London for a four-year stint, and leading a number of global Adidas campaigns, he returned to Sydney for a Copy Lead role at Australian design start-up, Canva.

Elliot is now Creative Director of Canva's Campaign Creative team, and spends his spare time producing and performing music under the alias of Loods.