Top ad execs Melinda Geertz and Lindsey Evans appointed to Communications Council board
The Communications Council, Australia’s peak marketing communications body, today welcomed three new members to its national board, including, for the first time, two top women executives.
As part of the Australasian Promotional Marketing Association (APMA)’s amalgamation with The Communications Council, its Chairman David Lo (below left) will be appointed to the board, currently headed by chairman Anthony Freedman from Host, Sydney. Melinda Geertz (above left), CEO at Leo Burnett Melbourne and Lindsey Evans (above right), partner at Happy Soldiers, Sydney join him.
Says Freedman: “The current Board members were appointed to represent the geographic breadth and diversity of our membership. It is a Board of extremely experienced representatives within different agency roles, but in their election, we neglected the gender balance. We’ve been rightly reminded of the need to better reflect the views of the women in the industry so with David Lo joining the Board, we’ve now added these two positions with the intention to redress the imbalance.”
Says Lindsey Evans: “I’m very proud to have been invited to join the Council’s board and am looking forward to working with Daniel, Anthony and all the Board members. If we are to be recognised for the true value we help to create – for our clients and their brands – then bringing together all the disparate disciplines and stakeholders is exactly what our industry needs today. And this is exactly what the Council is all about.”
Evans is a partner at Happy Soldiers, the independent creative company with partners John Kane and Mark Sareff. A Creative Magazine’s Hotshop of the Year, Happy Soldiers counts amongst its clients Virgin Money, Roxy, Tontine and Nova 969.
Previously, in her role as managing director of The Campaign Palace Sydney, Evans helped to triple the company’s size with business wins including Westpac, 3 Mobile, Panasonic and Domino’s Pizza.
In leadership roles in London, New York and Sydney, Evans has worked with premier international brands across a range of disciplines – brand consultancy, design & identity and all aspects of advertising – but has always focused on driving and affecting culture change within agencies and their clients.
Says Melinda Geertz: “Being offered this Board membership is a big honour, but I also see it as a big responsibility, so I didn’t take this position lightly. I am delighted to join however and the challenge this industry has in retaining female talent will definitely be one of the issues on my agenda.”
Geertz has been CEO of Leo Burnett Melbourne for seven years, currently working with 7-Eleven, SEEK, Nintendo, Chrysler/JEEP/Dodge and General Mills.
She initially joined Leo Burnett Chicago, coming to Australia for a two year assignment but has been working with the agency for the past 20 years. Now she heads up the agency’s vibrant Melbourne branch, where she has been delivering continuous growth over the past six years, a track record of new business wins, and strong and award-winning creative.
Prior to her work at Leo Burnett, Geertz led major client business for the agency, including Procter & Gamble, Heinz/Wattie’s, Nestle, Kraft and Holden/General Motors.
“I’m very happy to join the Board through the merger of APMA and the Communications Council. Our Executive Committee voted to join the Communications Council based on its vision for the future of our broader industry and the calibre of the people on the Board committed to it, so I look forward to adding value to this vision, alongside Melinda and Lindsey.”
David Lo’s career path took him from being a solicitor for major national firm Clayton Utz working across litigation, banking, finance and corporate advisory, via sports management to the marketing world.
Lo co-founded The Marketing Zoo ten years ago, building marketing campaigns for
brands such as Arnott’s Campbell’s, Carlton and United Breweries, Coca Cola, Kellogg’s, KFC, Nestle Pizza Hut, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benkiser, Sony, Treasury Wine Estates, Unilever.
In July 2009 Lo was elected chairman of APMA, taking over from the now vice chair Kylie Green, where he set out to drive innovation and best practice in the industry and to continue raising the profile of Promotional Marketing.
Says Daniel Leesong, CEO of the Communications Council: “We’re very happy to have been able to re-assess our constitution to accommodate these new positions. With the creation of these openings we’re now welcoming three very experienced agency leaders to our Board and look forward to their input and ideas.”
5 Comments
FANTASTIC result. Both great choices for the Comms Council.
It was absolutely ridiculous that there were no ladies in the original national board selection.
Here’s to the end the old school advertising sausage party, and a move to a more balanced representation of our industry.
It’s the same woman twice.
Hear hear, 12.23. It was a complete piss-take before.
12:23 & 4:41
I just hope these ladies are recognised as becoming part of the board for their talent, and not because they’re ladies.
I’d be humiliated if I was given a position based on gender, sexual preference or race and not because of talent.
Stop the stereotyping, you actually undermine decent women in our industry.
All women look same.