Weber Shandwick appoints Saxon Shirley
Saxon Shirley has been appointed to the role of senior account director of lifestyle at Weber Shandwick.
The announcement:
SYDNEY, Australia – 2 November 2010 – Weber Shandwick has appointed Saxon Shirley senior account director to build and develop its lifestyle as well as direct the Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) account.
Shirley, who will be responsible for managing the lifestyle practice, identifying and pursuing new business opportunities and maintaining key relationships with senior clients as well as extending the use of digital in the lifestyle portfolio, reports to Weber Shandwick Australia Chairman Ian Rumsby.
Shirley’s appointment is part of Weber Shandwick’s continuing investment in the management of its expanding lifestyle division.
Shirley has more than 10 years experience in PR and marketing in Sydney, having worked on such high profile brands as Google, YouTube, Acer, Blu-ray, Universal, Zuji and Sony. He has managed successful campaigns for challenger brands and burgeoning start-ups and has undertaken agency and in-house communications roles for Wilkinson, Spectrum, Autodesk, Alias Systems and Animal Logic. Shirley was also head of digital in his two previous agencies and worked on numerous successful online campaigns including the launch of Google’s StreetView in Australia.
“Saxon understands the PR and digital needs of businesses today and the increasing importance of executing sharp ideas across traditional and digital platforms to grab the attention of target audiences. We are delighted to have him as part of our team,” said Rumsby. “Over the past 12 months, Weber Shandwick has secured significant new work from leading organisations, and we’re experiencing strong demand for our personal approach and unique solutions. Saxon is well positioned to help us continue this growth and provide our clients with smart communications strategies.”
Shirley said he was looking forward to the challenges of the role, at a time when there was strong growth momentum in the Weber Shandwick business.
Shirley’s appointment builds on the growth and recent strengthening of Weber Shandwick Australia’s senior management team following the recent appointments of respected industry leaders Elke Pascoe to head of lifestyle, Carly Herrig to head of corporate and Ian Rumsby to chairman of Weber Shandwick Australia.
Source: Weber Shandwick press release
