Initiative leaders poached by Accenture Song
Three of Initiative’s senior leaders have left the IPG Mediabrands agency to join Accenture Song, Mumbrella understands.
UPDATE: IPG Mediabrands confirms major Initiative exits
Mumbrella understands chief executive Melissa Fein, chief strategy and product officer Chris Colter, and national managing director Sam Geer will lead a new media arm at Accenture Song.
Mumbrella has contacted Initiative and Accenture Song for comment.
Fein has been at Initiative for nearly seven years, joining in 2017 as chief executive. She joined from IPG Mediabrands’ partnerships and brand experience agency Ensemble, where she spent around 18 months as CEO.
Geer joined Initiative in 2018 as chief strategist, from fellow IPG Mediabrands agency UM. In 2020, he was elevated to national managing director, in a move Fein described at the time as being because of his “trailblazing strategy leadership”.
Colter joined in 2019 as national strategy director, also from UM. Alongside Geer in 2020, he was promoted to chief strategist, before moving into the chief strategy and product role in late 2022.
Under their leadership, Initiative has been widely commended as one of Australia’s leading media agencies, with a client roster including Sanitarium, Priceline, Specsavers, Crown Resorts, Afterpay and Pernod Ricard, among many other leading brands.
In March, Mumbrella revealed that DuluxGroup has taken its master media account to pitch, which Mumbrella understands Initiative was invited to partake in.
It has also been invited to re-pitch for Specsavers, which went to market last month.
More to come.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Obviously everyone deserves to do what’s right for them but I do feel sorry for the rest of the Initiative Australia team who must be feeling pretty desperate right now. Accenture has form for poaching leaders and leadership teams from other agencies aka Damon and Tara from DDB. Why not try and create your own culture?
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F*ck
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