Dan Johns launches consultancy Ippon with Bench growth push among first projects
Three months after leaving IPG Mediabrands, agency executive Dan Johns has struck out on his own, launching consultancy Ippon, with programmatic platform Bench among his first clients.
Johns will act as an advisor to Bench’s board and help the company set up its enterprise division.
Johns is one of the industry’s most respected media executives, having built his reputation in his years running Ikon – at the time Australia’s most successful independent media agency. He was controversially ousted from Ikon in 2013.
Johns then spent four years with IPG Mediabrands, eventually becoming chief operating officer. He left IPG in September.
Bench will be among the companies Johns will advise
As well as Bench, Johns has been consulting to out-of-home company Shopper Media Group to assist with its business strategy.
Johns will work with Bench as it grows its presence across the Asia Pacific region as well as chasing bigger clients.
Johns told Mumbrella the rise of automated buying platforms has been a key trend in media buying practices. Bench’s enterprise division will be aimed at larger advertisers which want to bring their digital ad buying in-house.
“I thought their solution was pretty progressed in terms of what I have seen and that really attracted me. It is going to be a significant part of our industry going forward,” he said.
Bench’s offering enables large advertisers to experiment with messages across multiple channels both safely and quickly. The move by Bench represents an attempt to grow beyond the SME market. Johns said: “They’ve had some great success working in the mid tier. It is all about client size, small, medium – and then an enterprise client.
“They have had some great traction and new business wins in performance probably in the mid tier and now they are looking to extend that to working with some bigger corporates and bigger agency groups.”
Bench’s current clients include Epson, Murdoch University, RSPCA, Oz Lotteries, 20th Century Fox, SBS and Medtronic.
Ori Gold, CEO at Bench, said in a statement: “Dan’s involvement will help us show enterprise clients how they can maximise their media potential by giving them a platform that allows them to safely experiment and get results with their digital advertising faster than ever before.
“Dan’s understanding of the media landscape combined with the AI-powered capabilities of the Bench platform will enable enterprise brands and agencies to take control of their marketing decisions.”
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