Publicis Groupe appoints Imogen Hewitt as ANZ CEO of Spark Foundry

Publicis Groupe ANZ chief executive, Michael Rebelo, has announced several key senior appointments to Spark Foundry New Zealand.

Imogen Hewitt, the current CEO of Spark Foundry Australia, has been appointed to the newly-created role of ANZ CEO, Spark Foundry. Hewitt has spent the last 20 years in media and creative agencies both in Australia and South-East Asia.

The new ANZ CEO will be supported by Nicky Greville, the current managing director, New Zealand, who continues in her local leadership role.

The new appointments include Rob Thomas, who joined Spark Foundry in March, in the role of head of digital and data. Thomas recently returned from the UK, following extensive experience leading digital transformation for global blue chip companies, as the head of digital planning for PHD UK.

Adveta Dethe joins Spark Foundry as head of search, overseeing Paid & Organic Search and Biddable media. Dethe brings a wealth of experience developing integrated digital strategy with measurable results across a wide portfolio of category leaders.

These appointments follow the launch of the agency in New Zealand in September last year, with Westpac New Zealand, signing as the foundation client.

Rebelo said: "Spark Foundry New Zealand is quickly proving to be a compelling offering both for our foundation client Westpac and now others including Fletcher Living and Meta to name a few. With these strong additions to our senior team, I have no doubt we will continue to build on the momentum Nicky has already created.”

Meanwhile, Hewitt said: "Nicky and the team have already made a huge impact on the market and I am thrilled to now be working with them more closely as we continue to grow the Spark Foundry brand in New Zealand."

After architecting the evolution of Publicis Groupe’s media offering in New Zealand, Alistair Jamison, has announced he will be departing after a lengthy tenure with Publicis Groupe. He will be supporting the team over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.

Jamison said: "With Spark Foundry now firmly established in the market and a strong leadership team in place to write the next chapter for Publicis Media in New Zealand, I felt it was the right moment to for me to make a change. It’s been an incredible journey over the past 20 years and I would like to thank all of the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with over this time. I know that Publicis Media is in great hands and the future is bright.”

Rebelo added: "On behalf of the entire Publicis Groupe, in Aotearoa and beyond, I would like to thank Al for the immense contribution he has had both on Publicis Media and the broader industry as a whole. We thank him for setting up our media business for its next stage of growth. Al is a great human and we wish him nothing but the best."

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Top image: Imogen Hewitt