Mark Coad has joined Hatched as a strategic advisor, bringing decades of leadership experience across some of Australia’s largest media agencies.
Coad’s career has seen a plethora of senior roles at OMD Australia, PHD, and, most recently, IPG Mediabrands, alongside industry contributions, including chair of the Media Federation of Australia and advisory roles with ADMA and other organisations.
In his previous outing at IPG, Coad was made redundant in the shake-up following Omnicom’s adoption of Interpublic Group, alongside Leigh Terry, in December.
Following his forced exit, Coad became Partner and Senior Advisor at Business Growth Consultancy 24 Hour Business Plan (24HRBP), working alongside the founder, Andrew “Billy” Baxter.
Coad comments
At Hatched, Coad will support the rollout of the agency’s AI and automation product, guide business development, and mentor the leadership team.
The initiative is designed to remove low-value, repetitive tasks, enabling teams to focus on higher-impact strategic work and client relationships.
“The opportunity to support the team at Hatched is an exciting one. I bring experience and knowledge to guide business planning, new product development, as well as improved ways of working,” Coad said.
“Now is the time for agencies like Hatched, and I plan to do everything I can to help accelerate the continued growth trajectory of the business.”
Supporting rapid growth
The appointment comes as Hatched continues to scale, with client spend increasing by more than 40% over the past year and headcount growing by nearly 25% across Melbourne and Sydney.
Sydney operations in particular have expanded rapidly under managing partners Catherine Edghill and Danni Dimitri.
COO comments
Adrian Roeling, chief operating officer at Hatched, said Coad’s experience will be key to the agency’s next phase.
“We’re proud to have the opportunity to work closely with Coady, someone we have admired from afar for some time. Importantly for Hatched, Mark brings real and recent learnings from the country’s top multi-national media agencies, where he has also overseen large-scale automation and technology projects,” he said.
“As we enter the next curve of our technology design and adoption, Mark’s experience will ensure we maximise our investment and fine-tune our delivery.”
Top Image: (L-R) Stephen Fisher, Denise McCormack, Mark Coad, Lucy Seward, and Adrian Roeling