Melbourne independent agency Fenton Stephens makes key hires off the back of new growth

(Pictured L-R: Shefik Bey, Amy Stephens, Alice Martin, Campbell Smith)

Melbourne-based independent agency Fenton Stephens have announced key hires after new business wins and an expansion of the agency’s CX offering.

Alice Martin joins as senior strategist from CHEP, where she worked on Telstra, RACV, Samsung and LaTrobe University. Martin was previously at VMLY&R.

After a period of consulting, Shefik Bey steps up as head of innovation and transformation. Bey brings his vast experience in digital transformation, most recently with Service Victoria and before that with his own consultancy, U1 Group.

Campbell Smith makes the leap as chief strategy officer and director from Big Red, where he worked for almost a decade and helped it grow into one of Australia’s biggest independent agencies.

Finally, Amy Stephens adds the responsibilities of chief customer officer to her director of client services role, working in partnership with Bey and reflecting the surge in CX work.

Says Simon Antonis, CEO, Fenton Stephens: :Like a lot of businesses, COVID-19 accelerated trends we were already seeing in our industry.

“CMOs saw CX added to their responsibility sets and looked to us to help link that work to their wider comms strategies.”

Says Joey Dorrington, COO, Fenton Stephens: “In addition, the uncertain environment meant brands wanted accountability in their work. So our performance workload has more than doubled since the beginning of 2020.

“We identified that we needed to invest in strategy and CX. So we’re thrilled to have Alice, Shefik and Campbell at the agency and Amy stepping into a wider role.’

The agency has recently added Brown Family Wine Group, Workforce Extensions and the Accent Group as new clients, while winning new projects for existing clients Melbourne Business School and Dennis Family Homes.

Fenton Stephens is an independent advertising agency based in Melbourne, Victoria.