Mediaweek’s Media Movers charts the biggest people moves in the industry over the past week.
Deb Knight
Nine has confirmed that broadcaster Deb Knight will step away from the nightly Money News radio program on the Nine Radio network to return to a full-time TV role.
Knight will present the Money News show for the final time on Thursday. A replacement host has not yet been announced
Knight will present the national 9News Morning bulletin at 11:30 AM each weekday, along with 9News Afternoon each weekday in Sydney. She will continue to host A Current Affair on Saturday nights.
Brian Vella, AKQA’S CEO of Asia Pacific, announced he will exit the agencyafter 24 years, taking to LinkedIn on Thursday to share the news.
Vella joined ad agency DT in 2001 and rose through the ranks over six years to lead as CEO. In 2017, DT was absorb into AKQA and Vella continued as Managing Director, APAC, and was promoted to CEO APAC last December.
In a statement to Mediaweek, an AKQA Spokesperson said: “In a move that reflects our continued alignment with AKQA’s global strategy, we are evolving from a regional structure to a more locally focused model within APAC. One designed to better serve the unique needs of each market.
“As part of this shift, Brian Vella will be stepping away from the business. We are grateful for Brian’s leadership, dedication, and lasting impact he has made at AKQA. Additionally, Justine Leong has been promoted to Managing Director of Australia, and Jeremy Smart will move from Managing Director to Head of Growth for Australia.
“Leadership within New Zealand and Japan remains unchanged, providing continuity and strength as we continue to build for the future.”
Georgie Tunny
Network 10 is today announced the addition of journalist Georgie Tunny to evening current affairs program 10 News+. 10 reports that she will bring her passion for sport, news, and storytelling to the show.
Tunny is best known to 10 audiences as a host on The Project, but has a background across ABC, Flash, Fox Sports, and national radio.
10 News+ launched on Monday this week, airing Friday to Sunday at 6pm on 10. The sales pitch for the show is that it offers a different take on the news from what other networks are offering, with 10 billing it as “premium, in-depth news, current affairs and insight.”
Dan Krigstein has been appointed Chair of ThinkNewsBrands, the advocacy body for Australian news publishing media, effective 1 July 2025.
Krigstein steps into the role after serving on the ThinkNewsBrands board since February. He replaces Tory Maguire, Managing Director at Nine Publishing, who has chaired the board since January 2024 and will remain as a Director.
Krigstein currently leadsThe Growth Distillery and News Corp Australia’s Growth Intelligence Centre, where he advises on brand strategy and customer insights. His previous roles span Qantas, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount, where he built a reputation for integrating strategy, analytics, and innovation in commercial operations.
Mark Dawson, Megan Davey, Kathryn Griffiths
Initiative Melbourne has appointed Kathryn Griffithsas Group Business Director and promoted Mark Dawson to Group Business Director.
Griffiths brings more than a decade of client‑side experience at Bunnings, where she held senior roles spanning brand, digital transformation, loyalty and, most recently, growth strategy in the retailer’s B2B commercial division.
Her tenure also included integrating Bunnings’ acquisition of Beaumont Tiles and steering major brand platforms that grew market share and customer loyalty.
Dawson, who joined Initiative more than six years ago, known for his ability to align commercial discipline with creative media thinking, has been promoted from Senior Account Director to Group Business Director and will lead the Officeworks and DuluxGroup accounts.
Special has appointed Tash Johnson to the newly created role of National Head of Production Johnson will oversee the agency’s integrated production capabilities across Sydney and Melbourne – spanning film, photography, digital and tech, social content, activations and beyond.
She will also lead Special’s in-house production studio Special Made – an agile, multidisciplinary offering delivering everything from high-end content and photography to fast-turnaround retouching and post, expanding Special’s production team to be even smarter, faster and deliver more creative impact than ever before.
Anacta, the full service public affairs firm, has appointed David Brain as Chair.
The advertising and communications strategist brings a strong track record in global agency leadership, digital innovation, and strategic communications. He was previously a supervisory main board member of PR firm Edelman and CEO of both its European and Asia Pacific businesses.
He was key to the scaling of Edelman’s operations across diverse markets and was a driving force behind its evolution into an integrated, data-informed communications powerhouse.
Dom Hickey
Enigma has appointed Dom Hickey as Chief Strategy Officer to oversee the Central Intelligence department, providing clients with integrated strategy across brand, creative, connections, CX and media disciplines.
Hickey’s career spans more than two decades and she has led the strategy on some of the country’s biggest brands including Domain, Westpac, Coles and J&J.
She joins the indie creative and media agency from Howatson+Company where she was Chief Strategy Officer for the past three years where she built the agency’s strategic product and attracting key new business wins, leading to transformational growth.
During her time at Howatson, the agency was recognised as a Contagious Pioneer, received multiple Independent Agency of the Year accolades and scored four wins across the APAC and Australian Effies. Notable work includes Domain’s brand platform ‘Know What We Know’, Modibodi’s ‘I’m Dying Inside’ and ‘The Great Unsubscribe’ for the ABC.
Media Merchants has made three senior appointments to its Performance Marketing team.
Brendan Christie joins the full-service independent agency as Head of Search, bringing extensive enterprise-level expertise in FMCG from his tenure at WooliesX, where he led search strategies for Woolworths, Big W, and Big W Marketplace.
His technical acumen is set to enhance the agency’s performance services and open new growth avenues for Media Merchants’ retail clients.
Stepping in as Social Media Lead, Sam Melit brings strategic experience from Wavemaker, where he spearheaded social strategy for brands such as Yourtown, Hamilton Island, Allianz Travel, and Triumph. He will oversee both paid and organic social initiatives, delivering innovative and effective campaigns for the agency’s growing roster of clients.
Alex Altendeitering takes on the role of Paid Media Manager after relocating from Melbourne’s Alley Group, where he developed integrated digital strategies for prominent national retailers including Sportsgirl and Amart Furniture. His addition bolsters Media Merchants’ national service capability and deepens its digital expertise.
Cheuk Chiang and Fergus Watts
Bastion has promoted Cheuk Chiang as Group Chief Executive Officer, as co-founder and current Group CEO, Jack Watts steps into the role of Executive Director where he will focus on strategic growth opportunities.
The leadership change marks a new era for the agency , as marketing and communications network in Australasia. Founded in 2009, by brothers Fergus and Jack Watts, the agency operates in 10 cities and 5 countries with over 350 employees.
Bastion services local and global brands such as Kellogg’s, Air New Zealand, Spotify, L’Oreal, Ferrari, Unilever, Mars, Salesforce and Bunnings Warehouse across 6 key services; Advertising, Communications, Digital, Experience, Insights and its recently launched Media Planning and Buying offering across Australia and New Zealand, led by Anna Cherry.
Enero Group has promoted Ian Ball to Group CEO.
His promotion comes after he led the sale of OBMedia and the development of a plan to reposition Enero as a focused three-agency business, built around Hotwire Global, Orchard and BMF.
Ball, joined the business as Chief Operating Officer in early 2025 and has led a number of significant initiatives, including the successful refinancing of the business and key senior appointments across Enero’s agency portfolio.
He has also played a central role in the development of Enero’s FY26 growth plan, introduced a renewed focus on operational excellence, and identified opportunities for greater value creation across the Group.
Rachel Fyfe, Ashley Grey and Amy Peddlesden
The Pistol has strengthened its client service team with the appointment of two new account directors, Rachel Fyfe and Amy Peddlesden, as the agency closes out a strong financial year marked by both high client retention and new business wins.
Rachel Fyfe, a long-standing member of the team, has been promoted to account director.
Fyfe, who first joined The Pistol in 2021 as a senior account manager, will now focus on mentoring emerging account leaders while continuing to lead key client relationships. Her past roles include Social and Content Lead at GrowthOps and Social Media Account Manager at FWRD Agency.
Joining her in the leadership ranks is Amy Peddlesden, who comes to the agency from her previous role as Senior Client Strategy Director at Impressive Digital.
Peddlesden brings extensive experience in digital strategy, having worked across FMCG, retail and financial services at both Impressive Digital and GrowthOps. In her new role, she will lead key accounts, drive strategic initiatives and focus on performance outcomes.
AFFINITY has welcomed Paul Henderson as Head of Operations and member of the Executive Leadership Team.
He brings over two decades of operational and commercial leadership experience to the agency spanning Australia’s most ambitious marketers including Toyota, MasterCard, Foxtel, Qantas, and American Express.
His career includes co-leading MercerBell under Julie Dormand, and more recently, steering high-growth operations at Smrtr, where he ran a rigorous ISO process and built foundations for scale.
Henderson has also hand-picked Heather Cox to lead the Delivery and Operations team as Delivery Director. Her background includes Enero group agencies Orchard and BMF, as well as Ogilvy. Cox has also managed projects for accounts including KFC and Mitsubishi.
Richard Brett
Richard Brett has been appointed President of Ogilvy PR Asia Pacific, in addition to his role as CEO of Ogilvy PR ANZ and Ogilvy Health Australia.
His promotion comes as Emily Poon, President of Ogilvy PR Asia Pacific steps back from her role to pursue new ventures after a 17-years at Ogilvy PR – including five years in her current role.
Brett takes over from 1st August and will continue to be based in Sydney.
He first joined the agency in 2013, and was appointed to the CEO role in 2018, taking on the additional leadership of Ogilvy Health Australia in 2021. He has more than 25 years of experience leading communications consultancies and as an in-house communications and marketing leader.
Orchard has launched an experimentation practice aimed at giving clients access to a clear, data-driven way to innovate and remove the risk of guesswork with statistically proven insights.
The practice was developed over five years and turns an internal tool into a core service, allowing businesses to test ideas, measure real impact, and make confident, evidence-based decisions.
Anthony Del Rio has been appointed to lead the new practice. He joins from EssenceMediacom, where he was Experimentation CRO Director, and brings skills in CRO, digital testing, and data strategy.
He was previously a Senior Strategy Consultant and CRO Strategist at Deloitte, and held roles with brands including Samsung, Carnival Australia, and Time Inc.
Del Rio joins Orchard’s Director of Data, Insights and Analytics Dan Taylor, who has played a key role in building the agency’s experimentation approach over the last five years.