Move and win roundup: Week of June 9, 2025

Publicis Groupe ANZ has appointed Matt Houltham as CEO of Starcom Australia. He will commence in the new role in July and report to Imogen Hewitt, chief media officer, Publicis Groupe ANZ. With 25 years of experience managing media and strategy agencies across ANZ, the US, and the UK, he also previously led the digital media operations at the former ZenithOptimedia, now known as Zenith Australia. Most recently, he was global chief marketing officer of market research platform Glow.

AKQA has promoted Eric Orton to chief technology officer for APAC. A 15-year veteran of AKQA, previously holding the title of executive technology director for Australia and New Zealand, he has held a range of senior leadership roles across the business over the years. In his new role as CTO, Orton will focus on enhancing technical leadership across APAC, growing strategic partnerships, and deepening AKQA’s expertise in technologies that future-proof business performance.  

Andrew Murray has joined Accenture Song as media operations lead in Australia. Murray was the former head of trading at UM Australia, having worked for over two decades at UM, before he briefly moved to OpenDoor, part of GroupM for over a year. 

Enigma, independent creative and media agency, has appointed Aldo Ferretto as creative director and head of art. Ferretto will be responsible for building and leading a world-class integrated design team as well as working closely with Simon Lee, chief creative officer, alongside the highly awarded creative duo of CD Matt Ennis and Senior Creative Cam Brown. Before joining Lee at The Hallway in 2019, he worked at leading creative agencies including LOLA MullenLowe, DDB Spain, Publicis Australia, Leo Burnett Buenos Aires, and Lowe & Partners Chile.  

Grey has appointed Elvis Li as president of China, effective immediately. Li will be based in Shanghai, reporting to Chris Reitermann, president of WPP China, and will work closely with Sarah Trombetta, CEO of Grey Asia Pacific. He will also oversee Grey's social marketing agency, Easycom, in China. Prior to Grey, Li served as general manager of BBDO Shanghai. With 22 years of experience in the advertising industry, he has worked at J. Walter Thompson, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, and Wieden+Kennedy. Sharlene Wu, former CEO of Grey and AKQA China, departed the agency in May and moved to the US.

WPP Media Australia and New Zealand has appointed Shivani Maharaj as chief creator officer.
She will lead the creative and strategic vision across social media, influencer marketing, and the broader creator economy. Her responsibilities will include fusing culture, content, and commerce together.  Maharaj has worked within the WPP group since 2006. She first joined Essencemediacom as a media buying assistant. Then, she spent three years at Maxus Global before joining Wavemaker in 2017 as national head of content and partnerships. Wavemaker promoted her to chief content and partnerships officer in 2021.

Mutant has officially opened its doors in the Philippines, expanding its regional footprint, The Philippines operations will be led by experienced communications professionals Dev Atinaja and Luckie Masbad. Atinaja joins as PR director. She was most recently at Greenbulb Communications. Over the years, she has led campaigns for consumer brands like Lazada, McDonald’s, Epson, Nestlé, Bosch, Adidas, and SM Supermalls. Masbad joins as director, bringing a multidisciplinary approach and strong executional track record across social media, events, ATL campaigns, and client servicing. Prior to this, ahe was senior account manager at EON, the Stakeholder Relationship Group.

Archetype Australia has promoted Simon Lesch to the newly created role of head of AI & transformation. Formerly head of digital, Lesch’s new role reflects Archetype’s embedding of AI across its operations. He joined Archetype as digital lead in 2023. Before that, he was a senior strategist at Orange Line.

72andSunnySydney has announced a new leadership team, appointing a new managing director and executive strategy director as Ross Berthinussen departs the agency after six years to return to his native UK. Sophie Sykes is joining the agency to replace Berthinussen as managing director. She was most recently client partner at Howatson+Company. Meanwhile, Alexandra Nel joins in the newly created role of executive strategy director, having previously worked at Telstra as head of strategy at +61. Prior to that, Nel held roles at TBWA Australia and Leo Burnett.

The Guardian has appointed Danika Johnston as its director of commercial partnerships for Australia and New Zealand. Johnston was previously the managing director of WeAre8, a UK-based social media startup. She has also held senior sales and commercial director roles at Nova, Mamamia, SBS, Vevo, and TikTok. In her new role, Johnston will lead The Guardian’s advertising division, overseeing sales, operations, Guardian Labs branded content, and insights teams. Her appointment follows a recent realignment of The Guardian’s commercial operations under managing director Rebecca Costello.