With over 25 years’ experience across media, creative and brand roles in Australia and South East Asia, Imogen Hewitt has built a career defined by adaptability, strategic breadth and a relentless focus on people.
Now chief media officer at Publicis Groupe ANZ and CEO of Spark Foundry ANZ, she’s as committed to agency culture as she is to commercial performance, because, in her words, “exceptional people are the business.”
Since taking the helm at Spark Foundry, Hewitt has tripled the agency’s size in just four years and has consistently appeared on B&T’s Women in Media Power List since 2017 and won Executive Leader of the Year at B&T’s Women in Media Awards in 2023.
Get tickets for B&T’s Women In Media Awards, presented by Are Media.
Speaking with B&T ahead of the 2025 B&T Women in Media Awards, presented by Are Media, Hewitt reflected on the role such initiatives play in driving industry-wide change. She said that while the sector has made progress, events like Women in Media remain an important catalyst for visibility, celebration and advocacy, both to recognise achievements and to keep inequity firmly on the agenda.
“Given the World Economic Forum has found it will take more than 120 years for women to achieve gender parity globally, I see the initiatives like this as a valid way of both celebrating women’s achievements and keeping that lack of equity on the agenda,” she said.
“B&T’s Women in Media has gathered significant momentum over time towards building a collegiate and collective female voice for the industry. It’s always fantastic to see the genuine sense of celebration among peers, regardless of whether the awarded winners are part of your organisation or not. There is a genuine sense of collective admiration, responsibility and recognition born out of these awards, making it one of the most uplifting ceremonies across the industry”.
Hewitt’s leadership style has been shaped by both the progressive workplaces she has been part of and the challenging moments she has endured. While she acknowledged the strides the industry has made, she is candid about the fact that her career has not been without its share of confronting experiences.
“While we’ve made significant progress as an industry, it would be remiss of me to suggest I haven’t had my fair share of being subjected to experiences and attitudes that are fundamentally not okay,” she explained.
Rather than letting those moments erode her commitment to the industry, they have sharpened her resolve. “Rather than have those moments dull my passion for the industry or my advocacy against exclusionary practices, I’ve used them to remind myself how far we’ve come and of the actions and views I would never want to perpetuate or subject another woman to,” she said.
“Everybody is valid. We are an industry that works at the intersection of technology, creativity and humanity and to be successful in this we require a diverse set of perspectives”.
Despite progress, she stresses that equality in media remains unfinished business. The pipeline of female talent is strong, particularly in media agencies, where women often outnumber men, but the structural hurdles remain stubborn.
“We’ve done a decent job of accelerating the progress of women through our industry…However, the industry is still grappling with issues like how we reintegrate women into our workforces once they have been on parental leave. How we ensure the very top echelon of our agencies are accessible for female leaders, and how to work through subconscious bias,” Hewitt said.
“It continues to be a challenging environment for women, depending on how they choose to balance the various requirements of their lives. Socially, we still expect women to be able to manage everything at once, which I fundamentally think is unachievable and imbues unfair pressure. I think you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at the same time”.
At Spark Foundry, that push for equity is tied to a cultural framework she describes as “bold and honest relationships”. It’s an approach designed to empower people to speak up and ensure that tough conversations happen in an environment of trust.
“‘Bold and honest relationships’ are fundamental across the agency, because they require that we’ve built enough equity with one another to tell the truth… Everyone in the organisation needs to know that they are safe to say what they really believe. Likewise, they must be able to hear feedback that might be challenging but is ultimately coming from a place of care and a desire for people to be able to deliver the best work of their lives”.
That trust extends to her own role as a leader. Hewitt is quick to admit she doesn’t always get everything right, and she believes the willingness to be corrected is a core leadership skill.
“It’s not whether we get it right or wrong. It’s the courage we have to learn, to be called out, and to own the consequences of not being perfect and not getting it right all the time”.
Her ability to lead through change comes down to a personal affinity for it. In an industry defined by evolving platforms, audience behaviours and cultural shifts, she doesn’t just tolerate disruption, she thrives on it.
“I love change. It’s energising… It is very aligned to my values to see great people doing better work than they thought they were even capable of. My role in that gives me more energy than anything”.
For Hewitt, the measure of success isn’t just growth charts or awards, it’s the environment she helps shape every day. Her focus on honesty, inclusion and courageous leadership reflects a belief that the industry’s greatest asset will always be its people. And while she knows the path to equity and representation is far from complete, she’s energised by the progress being made and the role she can play in driving it.
Get tickets for B&T’s Women In Media Awards, presented by Are Media.
