Kelly Stambanis, who started as Thrive’s first PR consultant in 2000, been appointed as Thrive’s general manager (ANZ). She will work alongside the company’s founder and MD, Leilani Abels, taking on commercial and operations responsibilities along with her current executive duties, across Thrive’s five offices locations.
“Elevating Kelly’s role and extending her remit from her current role as general manager (Melbourne) will accelerate our agency’s growth moving into the new financial year and beyond,” Abels said.
“This appointment comes at a time when we celebrate Thrive’s eighteenth anniversary, record our highest performing year in business, and plan for a twenty-percent growth in headcount across 2018/19.”
Stambanis added : “Thrive has established itself as Australasia’s leading heavyweight independent agency. We are uniquely positioned to deliver big agency benefits with a boutique agency approach to client service. However, to continue our growth with a focus on our current clients and their success, means that we need to be investing even more in the best resources and innovating more within our agency. My role is about creating more opportunities for our Thrive team, ensuring they grow and do their career-best work with us, and guaranteeing that our clients experience best-in-class public relations with us:”
Thrive will continue its charge as a “corp-sumer” agency as the company moves into the second half of the calendar year. For the agency, that means the extension of next-gen corporate communications, first-class consumer PR and the bolstering of integrated digital services.
