Marketing leader steps up to lead GDR's advertising agency ambitions

Former Infotrack marketing leader and CMO50 honorary, Roni Millard, has taken the step up to executive leadership as joined GDR as managing director to build out its agency offering.

Millard is tasked with building out the new advertising and digital agency, a remit she told CMO she’s excited to embrace even with the extra challenges thrown in by the COVID-19 crisis environment.

“I revel in problem solving, building up and injecting structure, mechanics and processes and frameworks to plug inefficiency gaps,” she said.

The opportunity to coach and mentor staff, provide direction through clear positioning statements that enable staff to buy into the journey and engage, and develop high-performance teams with a “hunger for overachieving” are just a few other reasons why she said she took up the job.

Credit: Roni MIllard

“The GDR role offered me all this and more and in an industry I love. To work on building out this new advertising and digital agency, to build a loyal client base, to expertly juggle all the different pieces required to have a company prosper is such an exciting challenge, especially amid the current climate,” Millard said. “The challenge ahead is monumental but that just fuels my fire.”

In her first week, Millard said she’s engaged with all 16 staff in one-on-ones, and run a two-day brand workshop to develop and reimagine the group’s positioning statements. Her other priority is getting under the hood of GDR’s sister company, a 40-year old print and distribution business.

“Ensuring there is a seamlessness between the two separate entities will be a key priority which will ultimately allow the end user/client to be able to have all their creative and media solutions fulfilled,” she said. “The print and distribution side of GDR has so much history and legacy – a key callout is we are Sensis’ exclusive provider fulfilling its Yellow Pages print and distribution.”

Millard said the executive team are working to quickly nail down positioning statements and will start seeking top talent to support the business in realising its agency ambitions.

“We are developing and launching a global full-service media house that will go above and beyond for our clients and support them in telling their story to their clients so that ultimately they make more money,” she said. “We will be dedicated to our clients’ success with one of the key mandates to do this in a creative and yet ethical way.

“That being said, my role is new and so I have a blank canvas to shape it how I see fit – another key attraction for me.”

Millard spent the past year consulting to Tribe Consult. Prior to this, she had short stints as head of marketing for Wilsons, and as sales and marketing director for cloud software provider, Class, and Leap legal software.

It was her five years with InfoTrack as general manager of marketing that saw Millard recognised in the 2017 edition of the CMO50 of Australia’s most innovative and effective marketing leaders. Her resume also includes marketing roles with LexisNexis, Intellect and British Heart Foundation.

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