Joanna Fawkner has been appointed as commercial operations director at NOVA Entertainment. With over a two-decade media agency experience, the newly appointed commercial operations director will be responsible for optimising NOVA’s commercial inventory, trading, pricing, airtime and data analysis, working closely with the group’s senior management across Sales, CREATE, Digital, Finance and Technology to help define and deliver strategic growth. NOVA Entertainment’s chief commercial officer Nick Young said that Fawkner’s experience and reputation in the industry make her the “ideal candidate” to lead the commercial operations team.  “As we continue to grow and evolve our business through NOVA’s all of audio proposition, Jo will be a core part of the commercial leadership team and at the forefront of our digital transformation. As such we are excited to have her join the team in October,” Young said.  Fawkner said that she is excited about joining a team that is

Kate & Co. PR has announced the appointment of three new team members and also a number of internal promotions.  Mikayla Wearne (centre) will join the Melbourne team as a senior account manager while Claire O’Brien (left) as an account coordinator and fashion showroom manager and Hannah O’Loughlin (right) senior account director.  Kate & Co. PR managing director, Kate Keane, said that the agency is expanding the team in response to the tremendous growth across the new business. “I’m so proud to see our agency attracting high-profile and innovative brands, it’s a testament to our dynamic and highly respected team and the reputation we have built in the Australian PR market,” Keane said.  Wearne has relocated from Perth, bringing her media relations and strategic communications skills after working with RAC WA for 4 years and most recently at Lotterywest as media and communications officer.  O’Brien comes from a background studying business and fashion mar

PR influence and activation agency, Special PR, has announced three new hires including Kat Day as creative lead, Natalie Chandler as account director and Sophie Harsent as account manager.  Day will be responsible for creating campaigns for clients including Jaguar Land Rover, Jetstar, Tourism Fiji and Forsyth Barr as well as clients including Contac Energy, NZTE and Lion New Zealand. Day brings over two decades of experience, joining from her most recent role at Mango Communications as group business director. Kelly Grindle, head of PR & Influence at Special PR, said that Day brings tremendous experience to the role, having worked on some of the UK’s PR activations.  “We’re so lucky to have someone of Kat’s stature choose Special PR. I don’t think we could have found a better person to supercharge our creative output,” Grindle said.  The newly appointed account director Chandler joins Special PR from Pead, where she managed PR campaigns and communications str

Harley-Davidson Australia & New Zealand has appointed Thrive PR as the company’s PR and social media agency. Thrive will spearhead key initiatives to excite and capture new generation riders in Australia and New Zealand including influencer, consumer and business media relations alongside content creation and digital strategy to enhance social engagement.  Harley-Davidson managing director, Nigel Keough said that they are happy to welcome Thrive as a part of their PR and marketing team, joining their family.  “During a competitive pitch, we were impressed by the calibre of work, ideas, and industry connections Thrive brought to the table, and are looking forward to continuing to elevate the Harley-Davidson brand as partners throughout Australia and New Zealand, this year and beyond,” Keough said.  Thrive founder and managing director Leilani Abels (pictured) said that the agency will take care of the public relations for Harley-Davidson across offices in Australia and

Sydney-based PR and comms agency, Verve Communications has been appointed to manage the PR account of Tourism Whitsundays.  The agency will be responsible for working with the in-house marketing and PR team and promoting The Whitsundays as a premium travel destination for Australian and Global tourists.  Rick Hamilton, CEO of Tourism Whitsundays said that The Whitsundays have so much diversity to offer and showcase unique destinations and products and work harder to attract domestic holiday-makers as well as international travellers.  Hamilton also said that the agency’s founder Prue MacSween who was a former journalist and media commentator has vast experience in tourism marketing as well as excellent media and industry contacts and with that expertise, the team can develop creative strategies to deliver excellent results.  “Our intention is to encourage and build visitor expenditure to $1.5b in line with the Destination Tourism Plan 2019-24. The Whitsundays is the most t

Global communications agency FleishmanHillard ANZ has announced leadership appointments with the promotion of GM Jenna Orme to the newly created role of managing director while Lexi Penfold from a sister PR agency, Eleven, moving in to take on the general manager role.  Orme and Penfold will be responsible for leading the agency, following the resurgence of the tourism industry, resulting in the agency’s client growth alongside FMCG and professional services wins. Penfold said that she is excited about the transition and to stay within the TBWA family.  “I have watched the team from the wings this past year and look forward to getting stuck into the work and supporting a passionate and talented group of people who bring smarts and creativity to what they do, each day,” Penfold said.  The agency has also hired two new directors for its corporate and consumer communications practices.  Emma Jane Edwards has been appointed to head up the corporate discipline as director of

Independent communications agency, Sefiani has announced the appointments of Therese Raft to the role of senior consultant and Kate Skokan as account director. Raft and Skokan join the corporate and sustainability communications team from global professional service firms.  CEO Robyn Sefiani welcomed Raft and Skokan saying that their move from corporate in-house roles to agency roles is contrary to the industry trends. “There is no doubt in my mind that agencies are uniquely placed to offer talented communicators fulfilling roles and fast-tracked career opportunities in a supportive, flexible work environment, with fascinating client briefs, constant knowledge sharing and interesting, intellectually stimulating work,” said Sefiani. Raft felt happy to be back at the agency and said that she is looking forward to working with their clients. “Sefiani was a wonderful place to ‘grow up’. The calibre of clients and advice has always been stellar and the firm has more than ke