Brisbane-based independent, full-service ad agency Audience Group has shuffled its leadership pack.
Co-founder and MD, Tom Evans, will step into a new chief operating officer (COO) role, where he will focus on scaling the agency’s technological, data, and privacy-first capabilities to meet evolving client needs.
Co-founder and strategy director, James McDonald, will step into the MD role.
“Our clients expect smarter, more efficient outcomes, and we’ve established some seriously smart technology, capabilities and services as the backbone of delivering on that promise,” Evans said.
“We were early adopters of attention metrics combined with custom bidding algorithms, notably achieving a 74 per cent uplift in brand recall in our first use case. We’ve established the capability to rapidly generate media mix models and predictive analytics—tasks that once required hundreds of hours— reducing costs significantly, without compromising data privacy.”
Evans added, “As Brisbane’s biggest independent media agency, and certainly one of the larger indies nationally, it’s critical for us to remain agile and competitive. This shift to COO lets me focus relentlessly on scaling our capabilities, continuing to bring the right people on board doing exactly the right things, and ensuring we continue to innovate.”
“This change is invigorating, and it’s as good for Tom and I as it is for the business and for our clients,“ McDonald said.
“As Director of Strategy, I was working to shape our offering and take it from vision to reality in a way that is useful to our clients. Now, as MD, I’ll be homing in on the day-to-day as well as representing Audience Group’s vision for the future of advertising across the market, building on what Tom and I have established.”
“We’re not about growth for the sake of it,” McDonald continued. “This structural shift is about ensuring every step we take strengthens our offering, that we build with purpose, and stay ahead of market demands.”
Evans emphasised that people are at the core of Audience Group’s success. “Our focus on people is central to everything we do, from hiring the right talent to fostering a culture of sustainable and socially responsible practices. For example, we’re now supporting Scope 3 emissions reporting for clients looking to make a positive impact.”
As Audience Group continues to innovate and scale, the agency is well-positioned to impact the future of advertising in Australia, ensuring its evidence-based, privacy-first ethos remains at the forefront of industry evolution.