New faces
L-R: Victoria Fruean and Natasha D’Souza
Independent agency Thrive PR + Communications has grown its team with the appointment of Victoria Fruean as group account director and Natasha D’Souza as senior account manager.
Fruean was most recently PR and marketing manager at media agency PHD. With more than 10 years’ experience in communications, she has held senior roles with Spark (now Drum) and Mango.
She has worked across sectors including telco, FMCG, automotive, food and beverage and sport on brands including Spark NZ, Mercedes-Benz, 2degrees, DB Breweries, Unilever and international tennis tournament ASB Classic.
Fruean will join Thrive Sydney, managing a portfolio of Australasian clients and playing a role with ANZ Group.
D’Souza joins Thrive Auckland as the New Zealand office continues to strengthen its local service offering. She most recently worked at Y&R (now VMLY&R) on clients such as Campari, Goodman Fielder, Jaguar and Edgewell. Prior to Y&R, D’Souza spent three years with Mango.
Abels says she is delighted to welcome both Fruean and D’Souza to the team.
“Victoria will be based in Sydney, yet we work as ‘one team’ across all our offices so no doubt her local New Zealand experience will help our agency’s growth here. And Natasha is indicative of what we look for in a high-performance Thriver – smart, hardworking, with a positive attitude and an understanding of how to create great stories and content for clients.”
D’Souza she is thrilled to be joining Thrive Auckland and working with a five-office team.
“Thrive is renowned in the Australian market and I’ve been watching them steadily build a presence in New Zealand over the past couple of years. It’s an exciting opportunity to join at a time when the agency is poised for further growth both locally and throughout the region.”
For Fruean, Thrive is an “exciting step in my career as I take the leap across to Sydney, getting the chance to work on some incredible clients and with some amazing people within the agency. I look forward to maintaining my links to New Zealand, whilst gaining experience in a new market.”
Fresh position
MediaWorks has appointed Angus Swainson to the role of operations director, effective August 12.
The operations director role is a new position within MediaWorks and is responsible for executing the MediaWorks company strategy, driving operational excellence, leading change and delivering organisational results on a regular basis including the development and optimisation of existing commercial partnerships
The position reports to MediaWorks chief executive Michael Anderson and Swaimson will be a member of the MediaWorks executive team.
He has over 20 years’ experience in media and has worked with top global brands in the United Kingdom including Discovery Networks, Universal Studios and the English Premier League.
Relocating to New Zealand in 2006, he spent seven years at Sky TV working on commercial development and partnerships with telcos and technology partners and most recently has upgraded the marketing, communications and people functions in the position of general manager brand and people experience at MetService
Key changes
Val Morgan group is continuing its growth across New Zealand with key appointments to their leadership team and internal promotions.
Matt Tremain, New Zealand sales director, has taken on a group role leading the teams across its Val Morgan Cinema and VMO businesses effective immediately.
Kathryn Blackmore (pictured) has been appointed senior account manager, VMO Work, joining the organisation from outdoor advertising network Go Media.
Blackmore brings over 15 years media experience to the organisation from magazines, outdoor and digital.
Blackmore is thrilled to be joining such a dynamic business as VMO and “being part of the wider Val Morgan group offers a unique career opportunity like no other in media.”
“The growth of the business has been phenomenal in the past few years and I am excited to be joining at this time, bringing my media expertise to the business.”
From a commercial perspective Rob Forsyth will continue to lead that arm of the business for VMO.
Internally Chloe van Diepenbrugge has been promoted to account manager for VMO effective immediately.
Tremain says these key appointments prove Val Morgan’s commitment to attracting and developing exceptional talent within the business.
“Kath and Rob have extensive experience in the media industry which will help shape the future of Val Morgan Group and evolve our offering to exceed the expectations of our clients. Additionally, Chloe is a proven performer and quickly rising through the ranks.”
Future leaders
L-R: Oliver Allen and Daniel Shaw
Perceptive, has announced two new senior leadership roles will be filled internally. Daniel Shaw, general group manager, will be promoted to managing director and Oliver Allen, head of insights will step up to general manager.
Chris Pescott, who is the founder, and now executive chairman of Perceptive, says it was a natural move to promote from within the business to fill these roles, and both Allen and Shaw have proven to be exceptional leaders.
“Daniel has made huge contributions both culturally and commercially over his 11-year tenure with Perceptive. Having been my right-hand man in the business for over a decade, this promotion was a no-brainer and something that we’ve been working towards for a few years now.”
Taking over as general manager, “Oliver will continue to grow our terrific client base and foster talent at Perceptive,” adds Prescott.
“With 8 years at Perceptive under his belt and 2 of those leading the biggest division of Perceptive, Oliver’s appointment has been met with excitement from both the team and our clients. I look forward to working closely with Oliver and Daniel as Executive Chairman and have no doubt that they’ll continue to grow Perceptive with absolute gusto.”
Shaw’s promotion will see him working closely with the leadership team on the strategic growth of the organisation.
Allen’s new role involves looking after the day-to-day performance of the agency and continuing to foster and grow the team.
Commenting on his new appointment, Shaw says he is excited for this next step in his career at Perceptive and is looking forward to driving the continued excellence in innovation.
