Henry Tajer, executive chairman of Mediabrands and president of MFA joins MAYDAY’s board – Monkeys appointed to create brand strategy

Australia’s not-for-profit representative body for the media, marketing and advertising industry, Media Assisting Youth (MAYDAY) has announced that Henry Tajer (left) executive chairman of Mediabrands and president of the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), has joined its board.

MAYDAY have also appointed a general manager and enlisted the support of leading creative agency, The Monkeys, to conduct a full brand strategy project, to propel the evolution of MAYDAY.

Founded in 2006, MAYDAY’s belief is that the consequences of youth disadvantage in Australia can be eliminated through harnessing the wealth, talent and influence of the advertising, marketing and media industry in Australia.

Tajer, already active in the not-for-profit sector through his support of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (formerly The Spastic Centre), is committed to supporting MAYDAY and broadening its impact in FY13.

Says Tajer: “I’ve admired the great work of the MAYDAY team over the past six years. It is already one of the most successful and effective fundraising initiatives in the country and I have totally bought into the vision to create a movement that truly represents all of us in the media, marketing and advertising business.”

Earlier this year, MAYDAY recognised the need to build robust governance and infrastructure in order to grow its programs and introduce new initiatives. Barry O’Brien has been appointed chairman and Mark Britt (IAB Chairman) has joined the board which includes Kerry McCabe, Adam Furness, Anthony Hourigan and Monique D’Arcy-Irvine. MAYDAY’s grants committee is headed by Alison Vandyke and its events committee by Belinda Adderton.

Says O’Brien: “What started as a group of people putting their connections to good use is fast becoming a genuine ‘movement’ to own the issue of youth disadvantage in Australia. Henry’s credentials speak for themselves. That he has made this commitment to MAYDAY shows both his empathy for the issue as well as his belief in what is being created.”

The new appointments are leading up to the planned brand relaunch of MAYDAY in September, which will be an opportunity to share the FY13 plan and objectives with their loyal and growing sponsor and supporter base.

Since its inception, MAYDAY has raised over $3 million in direct cash funding and over $2.3M in media and marketing support for selected youth-focused groups. The target this year is to raise well over $1million in cash and the organisation is on track to exceed this with six new media partners signed on to join the thirty existing leading media sponsors.