Change afoot at Omnicom: TBWA’s Lisa Brown to lead Australia production
Lisa Brown, the new leader of Omnicom Production Group in ANZ
Omnicom Oceania is quietly mapping out its next-phase operating structure, beginning with the elevation of TBWA’s production chief Lisa Brown into a group-wide leadership role.
Brown was appointed Omnicom Production Group lead in October and will oversee cross-agency production across the group, including Clemenger BBDO’s specialist production company Made This.
Brown first joined TBWA Sydney in January 2015 as head of television production, before being elevated to director of the agency’s production and creative services in 2020.
Mumbrella understands that Omnicom production staffers will now report to Brown under the new Australian structure.
Omnicom did not comment on Brown’s appointment when contacted by Mumbrella.
Separately, Vinne Schifferstein Vidal, managing director of Made This, resigned this month after two years.
Schifferstein Vidal, a founding leader of Media.Monks in Australia and New Zealand, joined Clemenger to launch the newly created Made This, which incorporated the agency’s former Melbourne-based brand Eg+.
Vinne Schifferstein Vidal, formerly of Made This.
When it launched, Made This positioned itself as using automation and AI to drive more innovative and efficient production techniques. Schifferstein Vidal was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The structural changes mark a significant step in Omnicom’s broader regional consolidation under recently appointed Omnicom Oceania CEO Nick Garrett, who is moving to create a single management structure spanning media, creative, PR, performance marketing, and production.
It is understood these regional changes are intended to serve as a testing ground for potential structural shifts across Omnicom globally, particularly following the completion of its IPG Mediabrands acquisition.
Speaking at the time of his appointment, Garrett highlighted the opportunity to expand agency influence beyond traditional marketing.
“My time in the consulting world showed me just how big the opportunity is to add creative problem solving and brand thinking further upstream into business strategy, and how agencies can positively influence more of the customer ecosystem beyond marketing and comms,” Garrett said at the time.
“There is a huge amount of white space to grow into,” he added.
Meanwhile, building firm Turner & Townsend Victoria lead Richard Hume announced last week that the company had completed the fit-out of Omnicom Oceania’s new headquarters in Melbourne’s former David Jones building at 299 Bourke Street.
Writing on LinkedIn, Hume said: “Omnicom has centralised its offices and state-of-the-art production studios into a vibrant new Melbourne headquarters totalling 7,500 sqm overlooking Bourke Street Mall, purpose-built for one of the world’s leading media agencies.”
Globally, the holding company launched Omnicom Production in June 2024. At the time, CEO John Wren described it as bringing together global production capabilities, including Omnicom Studios, eg+, Designory, Mother Tongue, Link9, and the production departments currently housed within the company’s creative networks and agencies.
However, since then, local production units have largely continued operating within their own agency structures.
