PHD Melbourne lures Alex James from Carat for Head of Strategy role; joins leadership team

Alex James has been lured from the head of strategy role at Carat, Melbourne to head of strategy at PHD Melbourne. James also joins the PHD Melbourne leadership team.

As former head of strategy at Carat, James brings with her over ten years of media experience. Reporting into Stewart Gurney and Simon Lawson, James will be responsible for the development of creative and innovative media strategies for PHD Melbourne’s growing portfolio of blue chip clients including ANZ, CUB and Priceline.

Says Simon Lawson, general manager, PHD Melbourne: “We are excited to have Alex join the team in Melbourne. She has an outstanding reputation in market and will be a great cultural fit with our team. Alex has the ability to make you think differently about things and provides clear, actionable and measurable strategies which will ultimately help to achieve better outcomes for our clients,”

Stewart Gurney, chief strategy officer national, says Alex’s role will be to ensure our strategic product continues to be marketing leading in Melbourne: “She is a perfect fit for PHD, I have no doubt that her enthusiasm for strategic and creative thinking will drive our clients businesses- I could not think of a better person for the job.”

Adds James: “I’d always heard of PHD in glowing terms, be that from people who have been clients or from within the industry, and I am absolutely thrilled to part of it now.

“Being in strategy, I like to constantly challenge myself to think of things differently, to approach challenges with a blank sheet of paper to find the best way forward, and to do it in the smartest way possible – PHD embodies all of those approaches as part of their process across the board so I’m super excited to part of this and challenge myself and the team even further for better outcomes for our clients.”