Long-term brand building and distinctiveness are the hardest things for today’s chief marketing officers to accomplish, IAG’s Brent Smart says.

CUB premium brands marketing chief and instigator of the FMCG’s in-house digital agency, Chris Maxwell, has spun out his own marketing, data and tech consultancy aimed at helping other brands build and optimise an in-house agency model.

Recently returned to local hands, RM Williams has appointed a homegrown media agency to spearhead its global media buying, insights and strategy.

A very robust brief, empathy, collaboration and a willingness to pivot and adapt to new ways of working proved vital elements in creating Catch Group’s first major brand building campaign, the company’s chief marketing officer says.

​WPP AUNZ has launched the Centre of Excellence, a new division that is advising clients to navigate the digital landscape, drive maximum value from their existing data, and fully leverage their martech investments.​ The centre will have a hub and spoke model, allowing WPP's agency brands to tap into the tech capability.​

WPP AUNZ has confirmed the departure of its chief customer officer, Sunita Gloster, after less than 18 months in the role and a month after the group posted more than $230 million in losses in the first-half 2020.

Forrester has revealed its leaders in global digital experiences agencies, with Publicis Sapient, Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, and PwC named in the top spots.

Agency and industry players who haven’t yet grasped how important marketing and advertising software systems are in the industry’s long-term future risk falling into the same trap their predecessors did when they failed to recognise digital’s significance.

Accenture is looking to strengthen its data game with the acquisition of Analytics8, a privately held Australian big data and analytics consultancy specialising in data management, reporting and visualisation, data science and analytics services.

For the longest time, people have used words like ‘plumbing’ to describe technology. Yet as digital becomes a critical aspect of every facet of business, it’s clear organisations and brands are being defined by the experiences technology enables.

Customer strategy consultancy, Ellipsis, has taken the wrappers off a new company aimed at bridging the gap between Aussie brands looking to solve known customer pain points, with emerging CX solutions globally.

Digital transformation - it’s on the lips of every c-suite executive and a requirement of every organisation. Yet Ogilvy’s new executive creative director, Gavin McLeod, is worried about what it’s doing to the role of the CMO.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then location visualisation paints a thousand insights.

Former Domain chief, Antony Catalano, is looking to tighten his grip on the real estate industry once with news he’s now chairing and backing vertically focused marketing technology and services company, The Today Business.

Accenture has acquired one of the world’s most impactful creative agency heavyweights to propel its CMO services capabilities further, picking up US-based creative player, Droga5.

​It’s well over 100 years since American merchant, John Wanamaker, once opined his ignorance regarding which half of his marketing budget was wasted.

It’s the ability to tie activities and emerging technology utilisation to a brand’s business ambition, rather than standalone media metrics, that’s key to agencies building stronger trust with clients.

The Star has created its own in-house creative agency and invested in new marketing management platforms to help cope with proposed exponential growth across its entertainment and hotel portfolio.

Whether your brand is responsive and entrepreneurial in market, engages in strategic brand building or invests in digital or traditional media channels, consumers are going to increasingly want to “talk at you”, UM’s CEO, Fiona Johnston, believes.

WPP AUNZ has brought on former AANA chief and PwC CMO Advisory director, Sunita Gloster, as its first chief customer officer in a move it says is all about growth locally.

Yet another global digital agency goliath has extended its reach into Australia, opening its doors locally off the back of existing digital specialist consultancy, Webling.