News Australia content agency Suddenly has expanded of its senior leadership team across commercial growth, creative services, operations and content with two appointments and two promotions.
Madison Lawler has joined as business growth and strategy director. She will focus on new revenue streams across the agency’s expanding social strategy, influencer integration and GEO offerings. Previously head of squad at Mamamia, she led the publisher’s internal content agency, building social-first brands and managing a team across sales, strategy and account service.
Melba Gounas has joined as head of creative services. She will lead Suddenly’s team of art directors, designers and creative specialists across digital, social, video and print. Gounas brings senior creative leadership experience from VML, Taboo and Thinkerbell.
Michelle Rose and Jane Scott have both been promoted from content director roles into newly created leadership positions.
Rose stepped into the role of head of operations, overseeing account service, workflow and delivery across the agency’s client groups.
Scott has become head of content, leading Suddenly’s network of editors, journalists, writers and content producers.
“The core rules of great branding haven’t changed, but the way brands earn visibility has. Marketers need connected strategies across creative, content, social and search, not isolated teams working in parallel. The more AI shapes discovery, the more human credibility matters. This leadership structure gives us the platform to operate at a different level: more strategic, more integrated and more valuable to our clients. This is a team built for where the industry is going,” said Suddenly general manager Marie Lacey.
The expanded leadership team also includes Jennifer Stokes, appointed retail media director in June to lead Suddenly’s newly launched retail media division. She has more than 20 years of experience in digital marketing and retail media, with previous senior roles at Cartology, Nexxen, Nova Entertainment and Fairfax.
