Starcom appoints BMW CMO Stuart Jaffray to state MD role

Former BMW CMO, Stuart Jaffray, has scooped the Melbourne managing director role at Starcom Australia, ending his ten-year run at the German multinational automobile company.

“I’ve enjoyed the decade that I’ve spent at BMW, it’s a wonderful brand – exciting, dynamic – I’m still enjoying it today but also feel that it is time for me to do something different,” Jaffray told CMO.

Jaffray’s appointment is effective 1 May and he replaces Peter Toone, who left in December 2017.

Jaffray, who was BMW's general manager of marketing for close to four years, will be leaving BMW at the end of March. Meanwhile, Jaffray’s replacement at BMW will be Tony Sesto, who is currently the general manager of MINI.  

In Jaffray’s new role, he will lead Starcom in Melbourne and be accountable for the performance of the business, clients and talent. He will report to CEO, Tony Barbour.

Barbour said Jaffray’s depth of experience as a senior marketer with BMW and on the agency side made him a compelling candidate for managing director of Starcom.

“Stuart is a respected leader in the Melbourne market. His appointment is a statement of our intent to provide genuine thought leadership for our clients on the future of brands, consumers and the media and to connect media metrics to business outcomes,” Barbour said in a statement.

“Stuart’s business and commercial acumen will be invaluable in guiding our clients' marketing and business transformation. He will also inspire, complement and grow an already high performing Melbourne leadership team. Our focus at Starcom is to be client obsessed to create greater value, and with his deep business and marketing experience, Stuart will help deliver on this.”

Jaffray has more than 20 years experience on the client and agency side in London, Sydney and Melbourne and has worked in several industry categories including automotive, utilities, telecommunications, financial services, publishing and entertainment. His expertise includes brand management, media, digital, CRM, events and sponsorships, internal communications, product and pricing.

Jaffray first joined BMW as CRM manager in 2007, before becoming marketing service manager, then brand communications and marketing services manager and he was promoted to general manager of marketing in 2014.

Prior to BMW, he worked with Simon Richards Group in account management positions across a range of clients including AMP, The Age, Telstra, CitiPower, Mercedes-Benz and Village Cinemas.

“After a more than a decade at BMW I am thrilled to be joining Starcom Melbourne. It is an exceptionally strong agency with a fantastic client roster and impressive leadership team. I have been inspired by the vision that Toby Barbour, Matt James (Publicis Media ANZ CEO) and Chris Nolan (Publicis Media ANZ COO) have laid out for Starcom and the wider Publicis Groupe," he said.

"The pace of change in consumer expectations and business dynamics will continue to accelerate and Starcom’s philosophy, people and skills are perfectly aligned to drive its clients’ businesses forward.”