IPG Mediabrands appoints Melissa Fein to chief executive officer role of Initiative Australia

IPG Mediabrands has announced the appointment of Melissa Fein as CEO of media agency Initiative Australia. She is currently CEO of IPG Mediabrands’ partnerships and brand experience agency Ensemble.

Says Danny Bass, CEO, Mediabrands Australia: “Melissa is the ideal executive to lead Initiative in Australia. Her media experience plus the great results she has achieved in re-engineering Ensemble will be the key to how Initiative embraces a new positioning in the market and the future of brand engagement for clients.

“Melissa’s superb media instincts and business acumen, coupled to her career accomplishments, are also ideal credentials for her to lead Initiative in this rapidly evolving industry.”

Fein will tap into the Ensemble’s skill sets to help accelerate Initiative’s capabilities through its offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. She will lead a senior team from both businesses with diverse skills in creativity, strategy, experiential marketing, partnerships and implementation.

Says Bass: “Initiative will bring a unique competitive proposition to the Australia media landscape with greatly expanded abilities in brand building and consulting for clients who are navigating their brands in a vastly more complex market.”

Prior to leading Ensemble Fein led Generate, Network Ten’s client solutions division that specialised in strategic and creative content creation, digital and social integration. She was also previously responsible for launching and leading ESP, Mindshare’s content and partnership division, in the Australian market.

Says Fein: “Mediabrands’ broad resources are allowing us the opportunity to create a very distinctive business for this market. Clients want to take advantage of many varied platforms to build their brands. Drawing on Ensemble’s complementary skills means Initiative can challenge media conventions in this newly empowered world.”      

Fein’s new leadership of Initiative is effective immediately and she will report directly to Danny Bass.