Carat Perth appoints strategy director, retains Cash Converters’ national account
Carat Perth has appointed Dick Laurie to the role of strategy director.
The agency also announced it has retained the Cash Converters account and will continue to perform all media planning and buying, extending a six-year relationship between the companies.
Dick Laurie has spent the past decade consulting to local Perth brands
Laurie has held media and marketing roles for more than 30 years, working with clients like Unilever, P&G, Adidas, Mars, Hilton and Hotels.com.
Laurie’s most recent role was as head of new business and marketing for Mediacom APAC. He has held many senior media agency roles in APAC, EMEA, North America and Australia.
Since 2009, Laurie has been working as an independent planning consultant with local brands and agencies in Perth.
Laurie said he was looking forward to embracing his role with the company.
“Culturally, Carat is a great fit for me as we share similar values and beliefs around simplifying marketing complexity and balancing brand response and brand activation needs. I’m really looking forward to meeting with and working closely with Carat’s key clients and to helping them realise their growth potential over time,” said Laurie.
Carat WA managing director, Jim Groves, said Laurie is a ‘supreme authority’ who will greatly benefit Carat’s clients in WA.
“His combination of international experience and deep local knowledge means he’ll bring unparalleled strategic insight and expertise to our clients’ marketing strategies,” said Groves.
Groves also noted the agency was thrilled to continue the relationship with Cash Converters.
“Cash Converters embarked on an ambitious journey, driven by a sharpened focus on customers, enhancing its digital capabilities and adopting new technology. Our data driven approach to channel and media planning has allowed Cash Converters to acquire more customers at a lower cost of acquisition over a sustained period,” said Groves.
“As Cash Converters strengthens its position in second-hand retail goods, and expands its offering into personal finance, we look forward to supporting them with media and marketing expertise from across our network, from our shared home base in Perth.”
Carat will continue to lead a multi-discipline team of Dentsu Aegis Network agencies, including Columbus (search), Amnet (programmatic), Data2Decisions (econometric modelling) and Isobar (service design and user experience) with an aim to support Cash Converters through a digital media Transformation.
Cash Converters chief marketing officer, Alice Manners, added the company has confidence in the relationship with the agency.
“Dentsu Aegis Network’s ability to support our business drive to a single customer view and strong business outcomes has enabled Cash Converters to extend our relationship with confidence,” said Manners.
