‘I’ve had my eyes on them’: Former Wunderman VP, NA business development director joins Dept Australia
Marketing services and technology company, Dept Australia, has appointed a prolific media business development and client services expert as its client director for creative and media within Australia.
Christine Watts, who boasts more than 15 years of experience gained from working in for agencies in the United States and Australia, was chosen for the position.
As client director, Watts’ role will consist of boosting Dept’s relationships with its key growth clients, such as healthy burger chain Grill’d, online retailer eBay, American children’s programming provider PBS Kids, camera provider Canon, and genealogy organisation Ancestry.
“DEPT® stands out as a true leader in the industry and I’ve had my eyes on them for a while,” Watts said of her appointment.
“I am thrilled to join an already high-performing team and can’t wait to leverage our expertise in creativity and data to help clients achieve their business goals.
“Also, there’s the bonus that they’re a B-Corp, it’s something I’m personally really passionate about,” she finished.
Christine Watts
Watts’ career has seen her take on several account managerial and leadership roles across a range of organisations.
She served as an account manager and senior account manager between July 2011 and June 2014 at digital agency Wunderman, before transferring to the company’s New York office as an account supervisor. Her Wunderman stint finished in February 2020, after she spent close to two years as vice president, director of business development for North America.
Apart from Wunderman, Watts acted as senior business director and group account director at DDB in Sydney and 303 MullenLowe, respectively. Prior to joining Dept, she was also a group account director at Cocogun.
“It’s not often you find someone that brings such a unique global business perspective and that puts human relationships at the core of their job,” commented vice president of creative and media at Dept, Jessica White.
“We’re sure Christine will have a massive impact on our team and how we continue to put client relationships at the center of how we do business.”
Watts’ appointment comes alongside the hiring of Keep Left’s cultural strategist Zach Edwards. His career has seen him contribute to several campaigns for notable brands, such as Australia Post, Guide Dogs Australia and Dulux.
He joined Keep Left in late 2021 as a digital planner, before being promoted to strategist in June 2023. Edwards’ tenure as cultural strategist began in February 2024.
The additions of Watts and Edwards to Dept’s team comes months after the agency revealed it had appointed a chief client and growth officer in Andrew Dimitriou.
Editor’s note: Mumbrella has changed the way it deals with company names. House style is now to use standard proper noun capitalisation on all names regardless of brand typography. Brand typography may be retained in direct quotes from releases.
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Matthew is the editorial assistant at Mumbrella. He joined the company at the end of September 2023.
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