OMD Sydney has appointed M&C Saatchi Sydney Strategy Director, Dan Bye, who will be joining the team as Head of Strategy on Telstra.

With more than 10 years experience in the industry, Bye has led the strategic product for a number of blue-chip clients across the UK and Australia, including Optus, Orange, SapientNitro and M&C Saatchi. He brings a deep understanding of the telco category, internationally, from both an agency and client perspective.

This appointment serves as a further reinforcement of OMD’s elevated strategic offering, as seen with the recent hire of Mat Rawnsley from The Monkey’s.

Gavin Gibson, OMD national head of strategy commented: “To have somebody of Dan’s calibre driving the strategic thinking across our key client will be a great asset. Dan brings a wealth of category experience having worked across Optus at M&C Saatchi, and previously spending a number of years with the UK telecoms giant, Orange.”

Bye said of his appointment: “We are at an interesting juncture for the industry with the lines between media and creative agencies further blurring. The really exciting opportunity for me is the richness in insights and data that OMD holds that will really help identify client’s business problems and opportunities to better engage with their consumers, enabling OMD to be a strong strategic partner to Telstra. They’re also really great people so it’s feels like a great time to be joining a truly world-class business.”