Zenith Australia hires strategy and product veteran for new executive role
Return on investment agency, Zenith Australia, has hired a product and strategy veteran to fill its brand new chief strategy and product officer role.
The position will be spearheaded by OMD Australia’s former chief product officer, Penny Shell. In her new role – which comes after several months of working as an independent consultant focusing on media, product, brand and strategy – Shell will be an official member of Zenith’s executive leadership body.
Penny Shell
Her work will require her to monitor and manage “the strategy, planning and product capabilities core to the ‘Imagination’ pillar of Zenith Australia’s ROI3 proposition of ‘Investment, Imagination and Insight’”.
At the same time, Shell is expected to leverage the knowledge pool of Publicis Groupe ANZ to develop new communications and media solutions for the agency’s clients, with the ultimate goal of driving business/brand outcomes and growth for each one.
Moving forward, Zenith’s current co-national heads of strategy and planning, Simon Schoen and Sarah Heitkamp, will be reporting to Shell.
According to Shell, the decision to join Zenith’s team comes after a fruitful consulting period.
“After spending the last four months consulting with the team at Zenith Australia, I couldn’t pass up the chance to be a permanent member of the agency in creating true innovative products and building exciting solutions to close industry gaps,” Shell explained.
“It’s a privilege to join Zenith Australia at a time of such momentum and growth and I look forward to working with our incredible strategy, digital, planning and commerce leads to realise media’s potential to deliver new ROI for our clients.”
“We are delighted to have Penny come on board to lead our product and strategy offering locally,” affirmed Jason Tonelli, Zenith Australia’s chief executive officer.
“As an internationally award-winning strategist with more than 20 years’ experience in media and strategy roles, Penny is the ideal person to further elevate the Imagination tenet of our business to uncover new opportunities for competitive advantage for our clients.”
Shell’s new position will see her work out of the agency’s Melbourne office.
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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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