AdUnion has announced two appointments to its leadership team, following the retention of telco brands More and Tangerine Telecom. Siddharth Bhakay joins AdUnion as its head of digital, while Katrina Stratton has been appointed as the agency’s head of client services and investment.
Under his new remit, Bhakay will work closely with the team from partner business, AdMatch, to build efficiency and effectiveness across all streaming media channels, while Stratton will deepen the agency’s media strategy offering.
Stratton comes to AdUnion with more than 20 years of experience with media agencies and media owners, most recently as group business director at Zenith, working with clients across a range of verticals including retail, FMCG, automotive, and financial services. Prior to this, she was the group sales director for News Corp and the group business director for UM, leading campaigns for Target, Australia Post, Origin Energy, Stockland, and AIA Australia.
Bhakay brings nearly 15 years of experience as a digital advertising specialist to AdUnion, having worked with brands including Menulog, Coles, Dan Murphy’s, Qantas, and ING Bank. He joins AdUnion from Nunn Media, where he was a digital account manager, and has also worked with Matterkind, Blis, and mobile wallet app Stocard.
Both appointments follow the multi-year contract extension of national telco brands, More and Tangerine Telecom.
AdUnion will be responsible for advertising strategy and media planning and buying across broadcast, streaming, audio, and out-of-home for both brands.
“We retained the team at AdUnion to provide integrated media strategy and execution for the Tangerine Brand launch campaign in 2023. Since then we have been constantly impressed by the level of engagement, over-delivery on expectations, and contribution to our rapid growth. We have now committed to a long-term contract and are expanding their remit into more areas than originally planned,” said Rick van Emmerik, chief marketing officer, More Telecom and Tangerine.
“Sid and Katrina’s appointments demonstrate our commitment to investing in experience and capability across all media channels, and continually building out our leadership team to support our clients’ ambitious growth targets,” said AdUnion managing director, Robert Ong.
“Sid and Katrina join the team during a substantial growth period for AdUnion, as we continue to deliver for our clients. We are particularly delighted to have retained the key telco challenger brands More and Tangerine, as innovative, Australian-owned, high-growth, mobile and internet providers. As an independent media agency, we’re proud of our sustained expansion and growth, particularly in light of the decline in consumer and advertising spending; it shows the strength of both the AdUnion offering and the broader indie sector,” added Ong.
“AdUnion’s unique attribution platform makes it an attractive proposition for any streaming media specialist. Having spent my career working across the digital space, I’m excited to join an agency that is leading the way in streaming media, and is committed to use efficient, effective data and technology to drive results,” said Bhakay.
“I’m delighted to join the AdUnion team during this exciting growth phase for the agency. The commitment to deploying an integrated media strategy approach across all channels and delivering meaningful campaigns have helped AdUnion to build long-standing client relationships. I look forward to continuing these partnerships, while also working to build our client stable,” said Stratton.
Both appointments are effective immediately.
