Mindshare bolsters executive leadership team with new appointments
GroupM media agency Mindshare Australia added several new roles to its executive leadership team, bolstering its product and strategic capability with a chief product officer and chief strategy officer.
The new roles are the latest change to the agency’s local leadership after Maria Grivas, former CEO of IPG Mediabrands’ digital agency Reprise, was selected as the agency’s new CEO in April after Katie Rigg-Smith took on a new role as chief strategy officer for the wider WPP group in February. Grivas officially commenced the new role in August.
L-R: Elliot Eldridge, Catherine Rushton and Gavin Gibson
Joining the agency from his former role as Omnicom Media Group (OMG) chief strategy officer, Gavin Gibson has returned to Australia to commence as the newly created ANZ chief product officer role.
With more than 20 years of experience in strategy and product roles across multiple APAC markets, Gibson’s new remit will include the leadership and integration of data, technology and strategy within the agency’s ‘good growth’ proposition.
According to Mindshare, the chief product officer role marks the agency’s bringing together of capabilities across data consultancy, marketing effectiveness, research and strategy.
Of his appointment, Gibson said: “Brand owners are facing more complexity with technology, data, corporate purpose, and government policy all promising to better engage, predict or disrupt customer behaviour. The opportunity to bring together a cross-function team with a clear mandate to simplify this complexity and build towards a long-term Good Growth proposition is a unique and exciting challenge.”
In addition, Mindshare has also elevated head of strategy Catherine Rushton to take on the role of national chief strategy officer.
Having been with the agency since 2016, Rushton has been responsible for reshaping Mindshare’s strategic and creative capability to propel its strategic product and fulfil the ‘good growth’ proposition. Rushton has more than a decade’s experience as a senior marketer leading strategy on agency and client side, including with Unilever and a number of the largest local and global clients.
Stepping up into Rushton’s vacated role as head of strategy is strategy director Elliot Eldridge, who will be responsible for the strategic product of Mindshare Sydney, as well as developing strategic skills across the agency. His extensive background in investment and channel planning brings a complete strategic view and obsession for data to the role.
Maria Grivas, CEO of Mindshare Australia & New Zealand, said: “Over the last few years, I’ve been thinking about the shape that marketing takes in today’s climate, and how equipped brands are for the continuous change of tomorrow. The challenges we are solving for, achieving sustainable growth that is good for business, people, and the planet, require more than a single point solution. This is the lens we are applying to reshaping Mindshare and creating a product office that brings together a cross-set of skills and enables us to solve for our clients’ current and future needs. I’m beyond excited about the opportunity ahead of us all as together we shape the next era of Good Growth for Mindshare in Australia and New Zealand.”
The appointments come several months after Mindshare Australia managed to hold onto the Nike media account locally amidst a global shift, as a global review saw the majority of the multinational brand’s global business landing with Mediabrands’ Initiative, while the US market went to independent PMG.
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