The new Hearts & Science team will be led by CEO Jane Stanley and MD Liz Wigmore with a series of promotions. Nearly doubling in size, the agency promises to offer clients the best of both worlds – an indy/boutique ethos backed by Omnicom’s deep capabilities in media buying and tech.
Hearts & Science recent merger with Omnicom stablemate Foundation is a match made in heaven, according to the architects of the move.
The new business has nearly doubled in size with a headcount close to 100-strong and a new leadership team that brings the best of both agencies to the fore. The agency’s larger clients include Peloton, SBS, Hoyts, Diageo, HSBC, Mercedes and Hyundai.
Jane Stanley, who has led Hearts & Science ANZ for more than two years, will continue to pull the reins on the combined business with Foundation leader Liz Wigmore by her side as the new MD.
A trio of Foundation leads have been elevated into key positions in Hearts & Science’s new senior leadership team, B&T can reveal.
Louis Mayne has been promoted to chief investment officer, Kim Dolengowski has stepped up to chief strategy officer, and Ashley Wong has been named chief digital & innovation Officer.
The leadership team is rounded out by Sydney GM Peter Skarparis and Melbourne GM Kylie Pascoe, who continue in their roles.
Mayne will manage Hearts & Science investment portfolio across Australia with a focus on media partner relationships, drawing on 15 years of planning and buying experience.
Dolengowski, who has previously worked as strategy director for UM in Australia and the US, specialties in integrated strategy, creativity and brand transformation, and will be responsible for elevating Hearts’ overall strategic product across Australia.
Meanwhile Wong will drive Hearts & Science’s digital innovation initiatives, including data-driven solutions that deliver on client outcomes.
“They are incredible leaders in their craft, and it signals to the market a significant and exciting era for Hearts Australia; one where our clients are going to see and feel a positive impact, as well as our people at the agency,” Wigmore said.
Follow your heart
They say that love is blind, but the decision to merge two of Omnicom’s smaller media shows was not a case of love at first sight in terms of how quickly the relationship developed.
In 2016, when Hearts & Science emerged in the US as one of the hottest new kids on the media agency block, it had won the Procter & Gamble account and promised to combine the smarts of data and tech with the emotional brand storytelling that could move the dial.
The proposition also promised an indie-spirited media agency backed by Omnicon’s tech and capabilities – a compelling proposal at a time when the industry was leaning heavily on shiny new tech and less so on human connections.
Hearts & Science launched three years later in Australia, effectively taking over the traditional media agency m2m with a new brand and market proposition, but it has taken time to build traction in a highly-competitive market with several strong indies.
Stanley said that she discussed a potential merger with Horgan last winter but had to make sure that the cultural and strategic fit was right.
“We looked at how do we supercharge that to a greater degree and really live our market proposition,” she said. “When we looked over the fence we saw some amazing operators over at Foundation and Liz’s team. The fit was perfect with the leadership team, they had the same sort of values and ethics around the work and what we’re trying to do from a technology perspective.”
Balancing scale with human touch
Omnicom Media Group ANZ CEO Peter Horgan told B&T the merger with Foundation will allow the agency the depth of resources to take it to the next level, but without hindering the human connection and level of service that is core to its proposition.
“It was a challenge to make a future-facing brand (Hearts & Science) when you are stuck with a legacy agency brand perception (m2m). It’s been a superhuman effort from Jane and the team to transform that traditional proposition with such a strong concept that is different from the other agencies in our portfolio,” he said.
“What it was really lacking was the depth of resources and scale that this merger and the backing of the group brings. Clients want to see the fingertips of Jane and Liz on client service, but with the opportunity to scale that unique Hearts & Science proposition.”
Horgan described the Hearts & Science approach as akin to a “consultancy without the baggage of constantly cross selling and upselling”.
In other words, striking the balance between providing a highly-personalised and curated service of an indie but with the resources and capability of a hold co.
Stanley said even though the agency has grown through the merger, it will retain a blueprint of close relations between leadership and client, as well as imparting that human connections ethos into the heart of its work.
“If you look at all of the great indies and all of the great boutique agencies out there, you know senior talent is really close to the client work, and that for me is fundamental,” she said.
“It’s still a good number (of headcount, circa 100) that clients can feel comfortable with. And they’ve got the resource and OMG backing, but still a size where it has that indie and boutique kind of feel to the agency.”
She continued: “In comms and media, we’ve lost that connection with the human being that we’re communicating to on behalf of brands, when we talk in cohorts and target audiences and all of those things. Our industry can’t lose the thinking and that connection…because otherwise the whole art of marketing is gone.
“I really believe there is an opportunity to make sure there’s responsibility in technology, including the use of AI and data, and that it’s being used in the right way, whether that’s looking at sustainability or targeting.
“It’s about how do we get that tension working between the heart and the science.”