Curious Nation expands ANZ shopper team with three hires and Shopper Accelerator launch

Brand activation agency Curious Nation has expanded its account management team across Australia and New Zealand, making three new hires as it accelerates investment in shopper marketing.

The appointments come as Curious Nation launches ‘Curious Shopper Accelerator’, a bespoke insights and capability training program designed to close the gap between brand thinking and genuine shopper commercial instinct by combining supplier-led sessions, industry training and tailored shopper marketing coaching for Curious Nation team and clients.

Findings from Curious Nation’s inaugural Activation Effectiveness Barometer found that three quarters of marketers allocated the largest share of their below-the-line budgets to retail media and in-store activations in 2025, with 41 percent planning to increase their investment this year.

Simeon Trew (right) and Gemma O’Kelly (centre) have joined as account directors, shopper; while Owen Cseh (left) has been appointed junior account manager, shopper.

Trew joins Curious Nation in a permanent role after working with the agency on a project basis since February. Based in Auckland but covering Curious Nation’s clients across Australia and New Zealand, he brings deep shopper expertise, having previously worked with brands including DB Breweries and Sanitarium as account director at Raydar, one of New Zealand’s leading strategic and creative shopper marketing agencies

Based at Curious Nation’s Melbourne office, O’Kelly will lead shopper and retail marketing delivery and brings more than eight years’ experience from leading UK retail marketing and shopper agency, Live & Breathe, where she worked on the supermarket giant Morrisons account.

Cseh joins from Clemenger Field Marketing, adding valuable field marketing experience to the team as Curious Nation continues to add capability.

Says Gareth Brock, co-founder and head of strategy at Curious Nation: “With increased investment flowing into the channel and growing demand for more accountable, commercially-driven work, the appointments of Gemma, Sim and Owen, along with the launch of the Shopper Accelerator, signals our intent to further elevate the role and impact of shopper marketing across Australasia.

“Clients come to us because they want something different. They’re not looking for the same old shopper promotions but want ideas that genuinely cut through and drive commercial impact, such as our recent ‘Mountain Dew Flavour Hunt’ activation that launched two new flavours by turning discovery into a game. Like everything at Curious Nation, these appointments are about challenging the status quo and pushing our Curious Thinking framework further.”

Launched at the end of 2025, the Activation Effectiveness Barometer is the first benchmark study of senior marketing leaders across Australia and New Zealand, exploring how activations from experiential and retail media to sponsorships and sampling are measured, valued and prioritised across the marketing mix.

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