M+C Saatchi’s Amanda Quested departs amid tough time for agency
As part of some “broader changes” at M+C Saatchi, the head of group marketing and communications has departed.
Amanda Quested had been with the agency for nearly eight years, first as managing partner for the Commbank account from 2018-2022, before moving into the marketing and comms role.
Amanda Quested
In her managing partner role, she led the agency team responsible for Commbank’s brand recovery following the Hayne Royal Commission into banking misconduct.
More recently, she was responsible for leading group marketing and new business. M+C Saatchi will now outsource its trade communications, which was also under Quested’s remit.
Prior to M+C Saatchi, she spent over four years at Leo Burnett as client services director, working with brands including McDonald’s, Samsung, Suncorp, Big W, and Twinings. She has also held roles at Host, BBH London, and Hourigan International.
Her departure comes during a tough time for M+C Saatchi, following the loss of one of its biggest clients Optus, a portion of the Woolworths account, and the retirement of its media brand Bohemia.
M+C Saatchi had worked with the telco for eight years, building out a bespoke agency called Yes to service it. It is expected that more redundancies will follow if new CEO Dani Bassil can’t rehome the team. Outgoing APAC CEO Justin Graham will help Bassil with the transition through the month of August.
Meanwhile, the Bohemia brand has been sunsetted as part of a global media strategy restructure. Global CEO Zaid Al-Qassab said the agency’s focus is on areas where it can “lead with a truly differentiated offering”, and Bohemia no longer met that criteria. It has subsequently farewelled clients including Fever-Tree Australia and Nando’s.
M+C Saatchi has instead renewed its commitment to M+C Saatchi Performance, the group’s global media offering, as a “decisive step” to future-proof.
Mumbrella has contacted M+C Saatchi for comment.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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