kwpx&partners media director Jodie Palmer and business director Dru Mincher depart agency

Kwpx&partners media director Jodie Palmer and business director Dru Mincher have departed the agency.

Palmer, who served as media director for nearly four years in Adelaide, joins Beaumont Tiles in the role of manager of media and integrations. With close to 20 years of agency experience, her leadership has left a lasting impact on kwpx.

Says Natalie Morley, executive director of media at kwpx&partners: “Kwpx is pleased to announce a bittersweet restructure within our media team as we bid farewell to a much-loved senior member of our media leadership team Jodie Palmer, who is leaving to round out her career with some client-side experience at Beaumont Tiles. Jodie has been an integral part of our media business and has made significant contributions during her time with us.”

In light of Palmer’s departure, the agency has announced the promotion of four talented individuals within its media team. Maddy Papilion, who has been with kwpx&partners for seven years, is transitioning from senior media manager to media director. Papilion has played an instrumental role in the growth of the media business, taking on leadership for several key clients.

Additionally, the agency has promoted Kate Moroney, Tierney Duffy, and Georgia Rowntree from media executives to new positions of media managers. These three individuals joined the team as graduates between one and two years ago and have consistently demonstrated their capabilities, becoming invaluable to the agency.

Morley emphasised the agency’s commitment to nurturing young talent: “Over the past two years, we have remained focused on nurturing young talent within our media division, especially in the wake of significant industry challenges post-COVID. Our commitment to investing in graduates throughout 2023 and 2024 has yielded remarkable results, fostering a dynamic group of enthusiastic, agile, and smart thinkers.”

Adds Morley: “We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to the contributions of our newly promoted team members.”

In a LinkedIn post, Palmer reflected on her time at kwpx, calling her departure a “bitter-sweet” moment as she embarks on an exciting new role at Beaumont Tiles. She expressed her gratitude to the “awesome team, amazing clients, and friends” she leaves behind. Special thanks were given to clients including RAA, Adelaide Fringe, Maxima Group, and Credit Union SA. She highlighted her work with RAA, saying, “thank you for entrusting me with your ‘medias’, I will forever be grateful.” She also acknowledged her close-knit media team, sharing, “I am forever indebted to my media team who have worked so hard and are so clever, I already miss you.”

Mincher, former head of growth in Adelaide, moved to Perth a year ago to help manage the formation of the recently merged entity between kwpx and &Partners. His remit at kwpx&partners was to unite the two agencies from a systems, culture and capabilities perspective, ensuring a smooth transition to a truly unified entity. Mincher is set to join the marketing team at Perth Racing.

kwpx&partners, ECD, Bryan Dennis, said: “Dru played a critical role in identifying our little agency as an ideal partner for the kwpx merger, and moved to WA from Adelaide to ensure the integrated offering was grounded in the realities of the WA market. Quite simply, we couldn’t have done it without him.”

During his time at the agency, he helped establish kwpx’s strategic, digital and media capabilities in WA, while integrating the Fremantle office’s creative and delivery capabilities within Adelaide and NT offices. He also quickly endeared himself to staff, production partners and clients.

“We knew there’d be a day when Dru would saddle-up, tip his hat to the townsfolk and ride off to save the next town from bad guys, but I don’t think we realised how gutted we’d be when that day came. Dru’s positive energy is infectious, he’s a decent, principled person and natural leader. We’ll miss him,” added ECD, Dav Tabeshfar.