Who’s The Boss! It’s Best Of The Best Industry Association Chiefs, Presented By Finecast, Part Of GroupM Nexus

With footy grand final week upon us, you’re probably again lamenting your team’s early exit from the trophy giving part of the season.

But footy, as is the case in supporting any team, is not just about the winning, it’s about the camaraderie, the beers at the game, the fan blogs, ribbing your mates, that feeling of belonging.

It’s kinda the same thing with belonging to an industry body and, we’re sure you’ll agree, Australia’s adland is not short on them! It’s likeminded people getting together for the greater good.

Be it awards, initiatives, training, persuading governments, setting standards, protecting consumers, driving change with things live diversity and inclusion, there’s always a lot on any industry body’s plate. Or, more likely, the CEOs of said industry bodies.

Understanding the magnitude of the task, today B&T’s outing and celebrating the 10 very best industry association chiefs in the land.

Every week on B&T, we’re rounding up the best people in a range of disciplines across adland. Last week we had mentors (revisit that one HERE) and the week prior it was agency project managers (read that HERE).

But with just a little more fanfare, we give you adland’s 10 best industry chiefs…

10) Ford Ennals, CEO CRA 

A little more than 12 months into the job, recently arrived Brit Ford Ennals arguably inherited one of the more convivial and communicative industry associations in the form Commercial Radio Australia. The CRA, of course, also boasting one of the more riotous of the annual industry award nights.

Ennals brings a deep experience in media transformation and digitisation from his time as founding CEO of Digital UK and most recently as CEO of Digital Radio UK.

Ennals previously had a distinguished marketing and brand pedigree working with global brands in C-suite positions in both the UK and the US.

He has worked as brands director for Mars, vice-president worldwide marketing for Reebok, and president of global commerce for Nike’s luxury division in the US. In the UK Ennals was CMO at Lloyds Banking Group and CEO of Universal Music’s direct division.

Ennals can count a number of wins for 2023, but arguably no more so than celebrating commercial radio’s 100th birthday in Australia this year amid a report that revealed the industry contributes $1 billion to the nation’s annual GDP, including a $320 million boost to regional Australia.

9) Elizabeth McIntyre, CEO OMA

It was always going to be a tough ask for McIntyre to step out of the shadows of her glorious predecessor Charmaine Moldrich who’d held the OMA hot seat for over a decade, but thus far she’s made the job her own.

Appointed in February this year, McIntyre had previously spent the past 12 years as group CEO for Think Brick Australia, Concrete Masonry Association of Australia and the Australian Roofing Tile Association, collectively.

Previous positions included executive director, marketing and sales for the Australian Turf Club, marketing director for Walt Disney Television International, and marketing manager motorsport for Ford Motor Company.

Arguably one of the industry’s hit hardest by COVID, with the help of the OMA and McIntyre’s stewardship, only last month the industry body announced half year net media revenue of $543.5million, up 11.9 per cent from $485.7million for the same period in 2022. While Digital out of home (DOOH) revenue accounted for 68.1 per cent of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 58.7 per cent for the same period last year.

8) Andrea Martens, CEO ADMA

Now into her fifth year overseeing the Association For Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA), Martens joined the industry body from skincare brand Jurlique, where she was global chief brand officer. Prior to that, Martens was the vice president marketing and managing director of home and personal care at Unilever in Australia and New Zealand. Martens has previously served as deputy chair of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA).

Among a string of recent highlights for the body, ADMA has advocated for sensible legislation on the use of personal information for marketing purposes. In ADMA’s most recent advocacy for the marketing industry, it suggested that the inclusion of anonymised technical information – including communication metadata – into the proposed definition of targeting would create “huge” compliance burdens for the industry with “little or no discernible privacy benefit for the consumer

Meanwhile, ADMA’s annual Global Summit that was held in August again proved to be one of adland’s must-attend events boasting a speaker line-up that included globally renowned experts Scott Galloway and Mark Ritson, Seven West Media CMO Mel Hopkins, Frank Body co-founder & CMO Jess Hatzis and The Iconic CMO Alexander Meyer.

7) Sam Buchanan, CEO IMAA

What seemed like a good idea back in early 2022, to muster an industry body to support Australia’s independent agencies, has turned into a juggernaut in just a few short years. Under Buchanan’s stewardship, the Independent Media Agencies of Australia can, as of this very minute, boast over 160 members.

You can check out Buchanan’s recent appearance on B&T TV HERE.

Proudly flying the local Aussie flag, Buchanan and team have been so successful that he has the global holding companies well and truly on notice. Of the body’s many achievements, it has openly agitated governments at all levels to reserve a proportion of their media spends for local agencies.

Buchanan had previously worked in executive roles for organisations including Fairfax Media (now Nine Publishing), Jetstar Media, News Corp Australia, Prime 7 and SCA, as well as a variety of media agencies.

In an interview with B&T last year, Buchanan revealed his best career advice: “Whatever you do, do it with passion.  This will drive you, keep you curious and ensure you impact others.  Most importantly you will love what you do.”

And his favourite indie? “I have so many favourite agencies to choose from and trying to choose one would be like trying to choose my favourite child! There is some amazing work being done by the independent media agency sector right across the board,” he said.

6) Vanessa Lyons, CEO ThinkNewsBrands

Founded by Australian media owners who have more than 100 years of experience in producing news for Australians, ThinkNewsBrands shines a light on how and why professionally-produced premium news content, primarily in the print space, is the best partner for advertisers looking to grow their brands and businesses.

Appointed to the CEO role three years ago, Lyons brought over 20 years’ marketing experience to the role. She previously held a range of senior marketing positions including general manager, marketing and customer experience at Wilson Parking, group head of marketing at insurance business AUB Group, and stints at both Telstra and Philips.

Despite some deleterious views around print, in May this year ThinkNewsBrands revealed data that showed 20.6 million Australians over the age of 14 engage with news every month.

Lyons commented: “Every week more Australians read the news than drink coffee or eat fresh vegetables. This readership data reaffirms that news provides a powerhouse of audience engagement and consumer readiness. The figures show that Total News not only delivers guaranteed scale, but also a primed audience ready to buy with 41 per cent of news consumers considered heavy users of the channel.”

5) Gai Le Roy, CEO IAB

Nudging seven years in the The Interactive Advertising Bureau hot seat, Le Roy continues to pioneer Australia’s online advertising space. Heading up the Aussie office of almost 50 IAB offices globally in the rapidly changing digital advertising and technology ecosystem, Le Roy has constantly moved IAB Australia in a forward direction.

In August, B&T TV probed Le Roy on everything to do with digital marketing, ad fraud and whether Mark Zuckerberg has too much power. Revisit the episode HERE.

Under Le Roy’s stewardship, the IAB remains one of the most inclusive of the industry bodies, seeking opinion far and wide to help dictate its mantra.

Despite a cooling ad market, the IAB and Le Roy has predicted that Australia’s digital ad spend should top out at the $14 billion-mark in 2023.

Under Le Roy, the IAB has pioneered one of adland’s newest and most exciting mediums – digital out of home. In May the IAB launched a new Data Collaborations Platforms Explainer to help marketers tech vendors, agencies and publishers understand what data collaboration in digital advertising can do for them. While in May, it warned adland of the proposed reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 were to be passed in their current state.

The organisation has also been one of the industry’s most vocal opponents of the federal government’s proposal to ban online gambling advertising, Le Roy herself saying she “recognised there is community concern in relation to ‘saturation’ gambling advertising”, however the government’s plans were “not a proportionate response”.

4) Kim Portrate, CEO Think TV

Yes, the glorious Ms Portrate also wins bonus points for throwing a top Christmas knees-up and being a glorious hoot too.

Nearing eight years into her tenure at Australia’s peak free-to-air/BVOD body, arguably Portrate’s premier achievement has been brokering a truce between the typically warring TV networks who’ve fast realised a collective front is the best form attack against their main adversaries – the tech giants soaking up the ad cash previously reserved for TV shows.

Arguably no industry body enlists neuroscience and fact-based evidence to prove its case (in this case, TV effectiveness) like ThinkTV with Portrate regularly releases research and proven case studies to justify the body’s claims.

Well aware of the fluctuations and fortunes of TV ad spends, Portrate said in August: “Results show that even as budgets contract, marketers continue to invest in all forms of today’s television, a testament to its reach, targeting and effectiveness. This reinforces the power of Total TV to drive business outcomes.”

3) Tony Hale, CEO Advertising Council Australia

No industry leaders list would be complete without the indomitable Mr Hale. The former boss of Clems BBDO is only a year off celebrating his long-service at the ACA.

Under Hale’s stewardship, the ACA continues to be the peak body for Australia’s leading agencies in the advertising industry. Its purpose is to foster the long-term prosperity of the industry, making advertising the most valued professional services industry in Australia.

The ACA continues to produce two of the top award shows of the year in the AWARD Awards and the Effies. Its education courses – AWARD School and Ad School – remain two of the most respected courses for graduates.

In May, the ACA launched a new accreditation program for the advertising industry, to raise standards of excellence and reward industry-wide commitment to continuous professional development.

On top of his ACA duties, Hale also owns Loudhaler which helps boards and companies to adapt their business models to embrace digital, data, media, social and traditional opportunities.

2) Sophie Madden, CEO MFA 

Despite a decade as MFA chief, Madden appears far from done with the industry’s peak body for media agencies, the MFA.

Madden recently fronted B&T TV to discuss her own career in media as well as why the industry needs to be connected to its purpose. Check out the episode HERE.

Carolling the fiesty MFA Board alone – that boasts names such as Peter Horgan, Megan Brownlow, Virginia Hyland, Imogen Hewitt, Aimee Buchanan and Michale Robelo – would be a tough ask in itself, however, under Madden’s stewardship the MFA has continued to lead and innovate.

In the past 12 months, Madden’s MFA has unveiled it DE&I strategy, setting out a clear three-year path towards improving all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion in the media agency industry. It has driven Ad Net Zero in Australia – a global initiative to drive advertising’s response to the climate crisis.

In January it launched its ‘career changers’ program to tackle talent shortages and attract  employees with experience from outside the media agency industry.

Its annual industry survey is the preeminent pulse on Australia’s media landscape, while it just launched an online resource for university students and their lecturers to identify and apply for internships within media agencies.

1) Josh Faulks, CEO AANA

In just a year in the CEO hot seat, Faulks has revitalised the once (dare we say it?) dowdy AANA into a modern, progressive industry body powerhouse creating real, visible change namely by not shying away from the difficult issues.

With Australia’s premier brands and marketers welded on supporters, Faulks recently told B&T TV he wanted the body to be “bigger, stronger, louder”. Revisit the episode HERE.

Faulks himself has a degree in economics/law, has worked across government  – including the ABC – and prior to the AANA worked as director at KPMG Australia. The sartorially elegant CEO is also real contender for best dressed man in adland.

Already boasting one of the best industry conferences, under Faulks the AANA has brought forward the launch of its review of the Environmental Claims Code from 2023 to 22 November of this year, extended the children’s advertising code to cover all advertising directed at children and welcomed the likes of Qantas, IKEA, Sanitarium, Goodman Fielder, Primo, Cashrewards, Seven, Endeavour Group and Dentsu Creative into the AANA’s fold.