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Chris Walton to head up Sydney office after buying in to Nunn Media

Matt Nunn and Chris Walton

Matt Nunn and Chris Walton

The former principal of Quantium Chris Walton has bought in to independent media agency Nunn Media, Mumbrella can reveal.

A former CEO of Mindshare, Walton will head up Nunn Media’s new Sydney office as managing director and will also take a seat on the board of the company.

Matt Nunn managing director of the agency, which claims to be Australia’s largest independent media agency with more than $130m in billings, said the move north from its Melbourne base was aimed at growing the business.

“If we are to be a serious player in the Australian market then we need to have a very strong presence and business in Sydney,”said Nunn.

“To be a national player we have to be there and it is a priority from a growth standpoint. We are excited to have him on board. I’ve been trying to get him to come across since he left Quantium and we have been looking north for some time and we have found the right person.”

Nunn Media, whose clients include Spotlight, Godfreys, Caterpillar and Autobarn, has traditionally been focused on the Melbourne market.

However, as Mumbrella revealed last year, the agency announced it would seek to challenge other independents such as TMS, Match Media and Bohemia after it bought out Kruse Media Services.

The agency already has a number of Sydney clients such as Fantastic Furniture and builder Metricom and said it was looking at new clients in the $2m-$15m billings range who may feel under-serviced by the bigger agency groups.

“They are the clients who are wanting a greater level of service from their media agency and are attractive to Nunn because of the level and quality of service we can deliver to clients of that size”, said Walton.

“But importantly a large part of that is not only great media buying but how does your media agency also work with their other agencies – creative, public relations etc.”

The move will shake up the independent media agency landscape, although the initial Sydney office is expected to launch with only a staff of three to five.

It also comes at a time when its closest independent rival TMS, which claims $180m in billings, fights to retain a key part of its foundation client Toyota after Lexus dealers announced they were reviewing their account.

Nunn and Walton said their unique proposition would also be built around greater client transparency around the various add-on services that agencies offer, which has been a major industry debate in the last 12 months. 

“I think a lot of media agencies have lost focus of their core competencies and we haven’t,” said Walton. “Data etc will be important but the unique proposition for us will be great planning and buying in a transparent way which collaborates with all their other partners for small to medium sized clients.”

Nunn agreed saying: “Nunn operates in a completely transparent way with its clients. We place a lot of focus on establishing and maintaining trust in a relationship.”

Nic Christensen 

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