Atomic 212° recently announced the promotion of Ashleigh Carter to the position of General Manager for Sydney, a significant move for the agency following a series of notable client wins. With nearly a decade of experience at Atomic 212°, Carter’s journey reflects a commitment to growth and evolution within the industry.
Following the announcement, B&T sat down with Carter to unpack the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
B&T: Congratulations on your new role! Can you tell us what excites you most about stepping into this position and how it differs from your previous role as Head of Client Services?
Carter: What excites me is the opportunity to really lean in on the operational side of the business and get involved in more strategic planning around how we build our teams and their skill sets. The role will still have a strong focus on client relationships, like the previous remit, but with a clearer focus on commercial and operational opportunities more broadly.
B&T: You’ve been with Atomic 212° for nearly a decade, moving through various leadership roles. What do you think has been key to your longevity and success at the agency?
Carter: Three things come to mind. First, saying yes to things that scare the s*** out of me. I spoke recently at our away day about how leaning in on opportunities that put me out of my comfort zone (and giving myself the permission to fail) has enabled me to gain so much more experience than I have felt my time in seat would have allowed, and I truly believe in this for growth.
Secondly, the Atomic 212° journey over the past 10 years has been one of growth and evolution. Being a part of that journey has enabled me to grow alongside our product, clients and people. It has meant that each year brings something a little different, so it has kept things interesting and I’ve always been learning.
Thirdly, the teams I work with. We have some amazing people within the business who support, mentor and truly care about doing good work.
B&T: The press release mentions your goal of supporting the growth of Atomic 212°’s people, product, and clients’ business results. Can you elaborate on some specific initiatives or changes you’re planning to implement to achieve this?
Carter: I’ll be working closely with our people and culture team to bring in and evolve training programs for the rest of our teams. We’ve always been very client-centric in the past, but as we have grown, I’ll now focus on evolving and refining our processes, team and product capabilities. Some other focus areas will be building new leadership opportunities for people developing their careers within Atomic 212° and working on standardising some of our ways of working.
B&T: Atomic 212° has recently seen a number of client wins and retentions, including BlueScope and BMW. How will you continue to build on this momentum and ensure that these relationships continue to flourish?
Carter: I am looking forward to continuing to build the BlueScope partnership. I’m excited about the momentum we have and what that means for the next 12 months.
B&T: What do you think is the most significant challenge facing Atomic 212° in the Sydney market, and how do you plan to address it in your new role?
Carter: Currently, it’s the speed with which marketing is evolving and therefore the breadth and depth of our clients’ expertise. This combined with needing to do more with less. I’ll be focusing on fewer, bigger, better and leaning in on the data and insights to show how we are continuing to add value as trusted partners to our clients.
B&T: As someone who’s transitioned from managing client services to a broader leadership role, how do you intend to maintain the close relationships with clients that were a major part of your previous role?
Carter: Clients will always be at the heart of what we do, so maintaining their relationships will continue to be a critical part of my role. I feel that as long as we are hyper focused on partnering with our clients to help understand their context, strategically solve their business challenges or show ROI, then the value of our relationship will continue to flourish.
B&T: In your experience, what has been the most transformative shift in media and client services over the past few years, and how is Atomic 212° staying ahead of these changes?
Carter: With the fragmentation of media channels over the years, agencies have had to evolve in how they lead their clients’ accounts. In our experience, time-poor marketers want that single lead that can guide them strategically through what they need to do to find growth, or to navigate holistically what’s working, but also recognise the right moment to bring in specialist resources with depth of knowledge.
At Atomic 212° we have focused on building our structure around giving clients that one person who champions their brand within the agency, making sure that their needs and objectives flow through organically to any specialist resource that touches the account.
Beyond fragmentation, we can’t go past the accountability shift in recent years and even more so right now with the economic headwinds. The importance of being able to have grown-up conversations with clients about what’s working to show our value is ever present. Luckily, our core USP has always been smarter, faster, more accountable media. Being ROI driven at our core helps us be fit for the current (and future) state of play.
B&T: What predictions do you have for the media and advertising industry in 2025, and how do you see Atomic 212° evolving to meet those future trends?
Carter: As mentioned above, I think the next 12 months will continue to be volatile and have an increased need for proving what works and leaning into more effective and efficient media solutions.
B&T: With an impressive client portfolio, what strategies will you be focusing on to ensure continued success and growth in both established and emerging sectors?
Carter: As we grow, we need to maintain our ability to be nimble with providing quick and effective solutions for our clients. New capabilities will be required to deliver our smarter, faster, more accountable media promise, so I’ll be focused on developing those in house.
B&T: Lastly, what is your vision for the future of Atomic 212° under your leadership, and where do you see the agency by the end of 2025?
Carter: I look forward to continued growth not only with new opportunities, but importantly our current clients and ensuring we maintain our focus on delivering best in class results and return on investment. I hope to see us evolve our product even further, to help support our clients through a challenging landscape and bringing our teams on the journey with us, building further capability within the agency.