Initiative Announce Two Senior Hires

Two senior appointments have been announced at Initiative to elevate the agency’s digital and client service capabilities. Ricardo Carreira (pictured below) has been appointed national head of digital partnerships, while Paola Cracknell (main photo) has joined as Sydney head of client service.

Cracknell is previously global head of culture partnerships for Red Bull, overseeing 44-plus countries based at the company’s global headquarters in Austria. In this role her focus was on the overall global strategy for Red Bull’s culture projects in both music and dance, by identifying and managing new and existing brand partners and launching strategic partnerships in multiple international markets.

Prior to working at Red Bull, Cracknell had extensive experience in APAC which included her role as strategic partnerships and communications lead at Shazam Asia Pacific, marketing director at Rdio and she was the head of music and talent at MTV Australia and New Zealand.

Carreira takes his national role following a highly successful stint as head of digital at Initiative Perth for the past two and a half years. He joined Initiative from Optus, bringing extensive experience from senior digital marketing positions. His broad experience on both agency and client-side also includes digital marketing, technology and data-analytics leadership on brands such as iiNet, Amaysim, RAC and Tourism Western Australia.

Both Carreira and Cracknell report to Sam Geer, managing director of Initiative Australia.

Geer said, “Ric is market-leading talent, who can talk our clients’ language and lead integration across all of Initiative’s digital craft capabilities. He will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of our digital strategy, partnerships and investment. It’s a critical role in today’s landscape and we are fortunate to have someone of Ric’s calibre at the helm.”

He continued, “In Paola we have a world class professional. Someone who knows exactly what our clients are experiencing and how best to help solve their challenges. Paola has immense experience in client/brand partnerships, with success both in Australia and abroad. I am looking forward to her joining what is a formidable Initiative Sydney team.”

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