Blue 449 today has promoted Zara Cobb (main picture), former head of planning into the head of strategy and planning role as part of the roll out of the new Blue 449 Open Source approach. The promotion follows the departure of Ian Czencz who departed the agency in June.

Cobb, who has been with Blue 449 for over two years, will be responsible for the adoption of the Blue 449 global process into the agency across both the strategy and planning teams. The move comes off the back of the agency’s name change from Match Media in January and the gradual adoption of the Blue 449 philosophy and processes.

Blue 449’s open source philosophy is about welcoming input from beyond their own walls, creating a network of talent, of weaving together data and ideas and breaking down silos. In one word it can be summed up as ‘collaboration’ – inventive, collective progress towards business goals

Cobb has over 10 years’ experience having started her career in London working for some of the biggest agencies in the Telco and ecommerce categories before coming to Australia and heading up the Westpac team at Mediacom.  In 2015 she joined Match as a group client partner and in that time has been instrumental in weaving the data and analytics product into the day to day planning process for clients as well as leading successful pitches on Tourism New Zealand and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Cobb said: “I am beyond thrilled to step into this role and help establish a market leading product within the global Blue 449 process. In a rapidly changing media landscape the Blue 449 approach is a refreshing, creative, and unique approach which champions collaboration, creativity, and data to produce work that really works for our clients. I am excited for this next chapter and for the opportunities it is going to unlock for both our existing clients as well as any new clients we welcome in the future.”

John Preston, CEO, added: “Since joining Blue 449 two years ago Zara has had a big impact on the agency and is a star of the future, a new type of strategy leader. We are delighted to have rewarded her for the work she has done and excited about what she will bring to our clients’ business.”

As part of the strategy re-boot Cobb will be bolstering the team and an announcement on this will be made soon.