Starcom Australia CEO Toby Barbour today announced the appointment of former BMW General Manager of Marketing, Stuart Jaffray (main image), as Melbourne managing director.

In his role, Jaffray will lead Starcom in Melbourne and be accountable for the performance of the business, clients and talent. He will report to Barbour.

Jaffray has been with BMW for 11 years and brings a wealth of marketing experience to Starcom and its clients.

He has more than 20 years’ experience on the client and agency side in London, Sydney and Melbourne and has worked in several industry categories including automotive, utilities, telecommunications, financial services, publishing and entertainment. His expertise includes brand management, media, digital, CRM, events & sponsorships, internal communications, product and pricing.

Jaffray joined BMW as CRM manager in 2007, before becoming marketing service manager, then brand communications and marketing services manager and he was promoted to general manager of marketing in 2014.

Prior to BMW, he worked with Simon Richards Group in account management positions across a range of clients including AMP, The Age, Telstra, CitiPower, Mercedes-Benz and Village Cinemas.

Barbour (above) said that Jaffray’s depth of experience as a senior marketer with BMW and on the agency side made him a compelling candidate for Managing Director of Starcom.

“Stuart is a respected leader in the Melbourne market. His appointment is a statement of our intent to provide genuine thought leadership for our clients on the future of brands, consumers and the media and to connect media metrics to business outcomes,” Barbour said.

“Stuart’s business and commercial acumen will be invaluable in guiding our clients’ marketing and business transformation. He will also inspire, complement and grow an already high performing Melbourne leadership team. Our focus at Starcom is to be client obsessed to create greater value, and with his deep business and marketing experience, Stuart will help deliver on this.”

Commenting on his new role, Jaffray said: “After a more than a decade at BMW I am thrilled to be joining Starcom Melbourne. It is an exceptionally strong agency with a fantastic client roster and impressive leadership team. I have been inspired by the vision that Toby Barbour, Matt James (Publicis Media ANZ CEO) and Chris Nolan (Publicis Media ANZ COO) have laid out for Starcom and the wider Publicis Groupe. The pace of change in consumer expectations and business dynamics will continue to accelerate and Starcom’s philosophy, people and skills are perfectly aligned to drive its clients’ businesses forward.”

Jaffray’s appointment is effective from May 1st and he replaces Peter Toone who left in December 2017.