ASIA-PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA, OCTOBER 2010 – The Communications Council, Australia’s marketing communications body, welcomed three new members to its National Board: APMA Chairman David Lo, Leo Burnett Melbourne CEO Melinda Geertz (pictured) and Lindsey Evans, partner at Happy Soldiers.
The additions aim to address the gender imbalance of the board and reflect APMA’s merger with the Communications Council. Council Chairman Anthony Freedman of Host said: “The current Board members were appointed to represent the geographic breadth and diversity of our membership.”
The Communications Council currently has twelve Board members.
Daniel Leesong, CEO of the Communications Council, said “We’re very happy to have been able to re-assess our constitution to accommodate these new positions. With the creation of these openings we’re now welcoming three very experienced agency leaders to our Board and look forward to their input and ideas.”
Lindsey Evans, previously managing director of The Campaign Palace Sydney, is co-Founder of Happy Soldiers, the independent creative company launched last year with partners John Kane and Mark Sareff. She has worked with premier international brands in London, New York and Syney across a range of disciplines.
Melinda Geertz has been CEO of Leo Burnett Melbourne for seven years, currently working with 7-Eleven, SEEK, Nintendo, Chrysler/JEEP/Dodge and General Mills. Initially from Leo Burnett Chicago, Geertz has been with the network for 20 years.
Lo’s career path took him from being a solicitor for major national firm Clayton Utz working across litigation, banking, finance and corporate advisory, via sports management to the marketing world.
He co-founded The Marketing Zoo ten years ago, building marketing campaigns for brands such as Arnott’s Campbell’s, Carlton, Coca Cola, Kellogg’s, KFC, Nestle Pizza Hut, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benkiser, Sony, Treasury Wine Estates, Unilever and United Breweries. He was elected chairman of APMA in July 2009.
Said Lo, “I‘m very proud to have been invited to join the Council’s Board and am looking forward to working with Daniel, Anthony and all the Board members. If we are to be recognised for the true value we help to create – for our clients and their brands – then bringing together all the disparate disciplines and stakeholders is exactly what our industry needs today. And this is exactly what the Council is all about.”
