Ampel Bolsters Its Leadership Team With Two Senior Hires

audio experience agency Ampel, has added firepower to its leadership team, appointing Stuart Buckland and Lauren Deighton to the newly created roles of director, audio production and director, media partnerships respectively.

Ampel founder and executive producer Ampel, Josh Butt (main photo, right), said he was honoured to welcome such an experienced and skilled team to Ampel, with the duo being tasked with significantly increasing the agency’s scope of original content production capabilities as well as partnership and sponsorship support.

“Our clients are increasingly demanding more from the audio space and are looking for new ways to tap into this very lucrative marketing medium,” he said.

“When they look at statistics such as audio listening is growing 50+ per cent YOY and the average Australian listens to more than 12 hours of audio per week, they know it’s the perfect mainstream format for consumers to experience interesting and entertaining content on demand.

“Audio audiences are sophisticated and demanding quality – podcasts that aren’t well made aren’t listened to.”

These new appointments are the first since Michelle Lomas (centre) was appointed as general manager of Ampel in late 2021.

“Lauren and Stuart bring the skills, capabilities and senior support to our team to help our clients take full advantage of what audio can offer their brands and audiences,” said Lomas.

“With Lauren and Stuart onboard, I can’t wait to hear what brilliant audio strategies, creations and partnerships we can now produce for our clients.”

Buckland’s (left) key remit will be to lead Ampel’s physical audio production team in the creation of original podcasts and branded audio, ensuring client’s assets can be leveraged across all paid, owned and earned media.

With more than a decade’s experience in media, Buckland most recently worked at Channel 10 where he was instrumental in launching Network 10’s ’10 Speaks’ podcast platform, managing a team of producers, creating and executing the platform’s strategy.

Deighton (top) brings more than a decade of national and international experience to Ampel working both agency and publisher side.

She has led national and global client strategies and campaigns across iconic brands such as Google, Tourism Australia, and Apple, and has also held various senior sales roles representing key clients at News Corp, The Urban List and Vice.

Deighton recently moved back from New York where she held a role as brand partnerships director for a global SAAS company.

“Leading the way in the independent audio race is exactly where I expect Ampel to be and I’m delighted to be part of the team that will be responsible for bringing clients new opportunities in paid, owned and earned media within the podcast landscape; growing audiences and driving them to Ampel’s, and our client’s content,” said Deighton.

“It’s a heady combination and I can’t wait to get started.”

Buckland added, “This is a great time to be in the industry and to help clients tap into the ever-growing format of audio.”

Buckland and Deighton’s appointments come on the cusp of Ampel significantly increasing its scope of original content production, including new comedy podcasts featuring A-List comedic talent, brand funded podcasts, continued production of podcasts including The Swab with Georgie Carroll and The SnortCast with Diana Nguyen, and production of brand funded TV shows.

Both appointments are effective immediately.

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Ampel Lauren Deighton Stuart Buckland