Initiative makes 2 seniors hires, with more in the pipeline
Initiative has made two senior hires, and is set to continue its hiring spree, while unashamedly “building the media industry version of The Avengers,” according to chief strategy officer, Chris Colter.
Rebecca Drummond joins as Initiative Sydney’s first group strategy director, while Toby Maclachlan joins as strategy director at Initiative Melbourne, replacing Mark Jones who is moving back to the UK, while staying with the agency.
The appointments of the two senior executives continue to bolster the agency’s national media strategy team, which is built on the premise of finding the best talent in the market, according to Colter.
Maclachlan
“The best part is, this is only the beginning,” he said. “We’ve got more exciting new appointments to announce in the near future… watch this space.”
Drummond joins from Wavemaker, where she was strategy director. She joined the agency in 2015, when it was MEC. Past roles include working at News Corp as account executive, as well as working at GroupM agency MediaCom.
Drummond has also been recognised for co-creating Smoggys in 2020, a brand of brightly patterned face masks that raised more than $20,000 for the Rural Fire Service.
Drummond
Colter continued: “Rebecca and Toby are not just two of the most highly regarded strategists in market, but they’re powerfully unique in their backgrounds and approach and I couldn’t be more excited to see them wield their powers to create culture defining work.”
Maclachlan joins from fintech and customer data business OkTY, based in California, where he was marketing director. He has also worked at agencies including Love & Money Agency, where he was content director, and The Story Lab, where he was associate creative director.
He has experience with brand leadership across a range of categories including FMCG, entertainment, fashion, automotive, government and tourism, working to “elevate business by focusing on more than just the bottom line,” according to a statement.
2021 has been a busy year for the IPG Mediabrands agency, recently winning the media accounts for Afterpay and IAG, as well as picking up Media Agency of the Year at the Mumbrella Awards.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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