Following the appointment of PHD to manage Volkswagen Group’s (VWG) entire global media planning and buying business in June 2016, the agency has shared the news of a number of senior appointments.

The new VWG management line up coincides nicely with the completion of the transition from incumbent MediaCom and sees industry veteran Kim Raicevich appointed to group business director, responsible for leading the 16 strong team.

With over 30 years in the industry, Raicevich brings experience from both agency and client side, following almost four years at Fairfax Media as trade marketing director and various consultancy roles.

Her agency experience spans managing director, global business and business development roles at Universal McCann, Carat, Vizeum Sydney and OMD.  She officially joins this month after being part of the freelance transition team since November 2016.

Commenting on the appointment Raicevich said, “I am very excited about coming back into the media industry after spending four years in marketing, to work on PHD’s largest global client Volkswagen.

“My broad experience in working on both sides of the fence will help PHD to achieve the lofty goals we have globally for the account, especially in the digital ecosystem.”

Joining Raicevich will be business director Kate Milligan, whose 10 years in the industry includes a wealth of experience working on automotive industry clients including: Mitsubishi, Nissan, Fiat and Toyota.

Milligan will be responsible for planning across all Volkswagen PV, CV and SKODA brands, after spending the last four years at PHD as a communication planning director and previously held roles at TMS, Maxus and OMD.

Coming across from Volkswagen’s old media agency MediaCom will be Brittany Crowley, responsible for leading the VWG investment team and co-leading the Audi account in her role as group investment director.

Crowley will be responsible for ensuring that the PHD team delivers the best possible output for clients consistently and drive VW sales and brand growth, reporting into Lucy Formosa Morgan, national head of trading.

Commenting on the move Crowley said, “I am excited about the new challenge of joining the PHD team. Having spent a number of years working across the VW, Audi and Skoda accounts, the opportunity to continue working with these brands and clients was one that I jumped at.

“The fast paced and progressive nature of the category, directly influences and informs the content and media approach through areas such as technology and design etc, meaning constant opportunity for innovation and discovering new ways of doing things. PHD have a great culture and I am really excited about the new role.”

Mark Jarrett, managing director of PHD Australia commented, ““Winning a client such as Volkswagon Group was a testament to the smarts PHD delivers, pulling together such a large team with a balance of internal promotions, and external hires puts us in a great place to deliver outstanding work for the VW group in the coming years.”.

All hires are effect immediately.