Media agency Blue 449 has announced a number of appointments for its strategy team, creating a suite of strategic specialists in line with the open source process that, at its heart, is about bringing together experts from a range of different fields with a focus on technology, data and creativity that will help clients grow.

The first two members of the new team are internal promotions. Josef Charlesworth (pictured above, second from the left) has moved from being a performance director to a business strategist, and Elliott Eldridge (pictured above, second from the right) has moved from client manager to senior strategist.

Blue 449’s head of strategy and planning, Zara Cobb (pictured above, middle), said Charlesworth and Eldridge have two unique skill sets that add a depth of thinking that clients will find useful.

“Joe brings with him a unique point of view on the holistic digital landscape both now and into the future, as well as extensive experience around martech and its uses,” she said.

“Elliott has a passion for media that is infectious, and he will be leading the adoption of media firsts, beta tests and new to market opportunities in collaboration with our client planners.”

Alongside the internal moves are two external hires. Julian Frundt (pictured above, far left) joins as a senior strategist and Max Broer (pictured above, far right) returns to Blue 449 as strategy director after working at UM.

Frundt’s work has been as varied as his agencies, with experience in social, influencer, PR, digital and traditional ATL campaigns.

Broer brings a wealth of strategic experience to Blue 449, having worked with a diverse range of clients, making his mark as a multiple Cannes Young Lion finalist who has been actively involved in promoting the industry though his time as co-chairman of the NGEN committee and as an advertising lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney.

“Julian is joining us as a progressive creative thinker and will focus on helping our clients build and understand how creative message, media and platform fit together in order to maximise results,” Cobb said.

“As for Max, well I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Max back to the Blue family and to lead the strategic product and team with me. Max is a unique, data-led strategy director who I know will help take our strategic product into new and more impactful spaces.”