MKTG Sports + Entertainment welcomes 2023 with expanded offering, several new hires and promotions

MKTG Sports + Entertainment Australia, part of dentsu Sports International has today announced the expansion of their offerings, several new hires and promotions

MKTG has appointed Ross Allen (pictured top)  into the newly created Creative Director role, Zoe Laspas as Sponsorship Account Director, Ollie Oxenham as Senior Commercial Manager, Gemma Walsh as Sponsorship Manager and Anneliese Raftis as Strategy Manager, with Vicki Brown promoted to Senior Sponsorship Manager.

General Manager of Marketing and Management Services, Jarrad Provis advised "thanks to the incredible effort of our entire team and continued positive momentum in the market, we have invested into our strategic marketing capabilities, which are designed to help brands grow with memorable and measurable impact, and further, to move at the speed of fans. With backing from our global dentsu network, we are in a fortunate position to continue to invest and evolve our business to create new value for our clients and partners."

Ross Allen joins as Creative Director, working across all areas of the MKTG business to maximise strategic creative and execution. With over fifteen years of experience building innovative brand partnerships and campaigns in London and Melbourne, Allen has worked with some of the biggest brands in Australia and beyond, including Spotify, CUB, Ford, 20th Century Fox and Levi's. He joins from Southern Cross Austereo, where he was Head of Creative, leading the organisation in creative campaign response across their audio portfolio and tier-one clients.

Upon commencing his role at MKTG, Allen said of his appointment, "I'm thrilled to join the talented team at MKTG and the broader dentsu family. It's fantastic to be a part of an innovative agency on such an exciting trajectory. I can't wait to help shape the creative offering to support that growth across the business."

Also joining MKTG's award-winning Marketing and Management Services team, are Zoe Laspas, Anneliese Raftis and Gemma Walsh.

Zoe Laspas (above left) joins as Sponsorship Account Director. With over 15 years of experience working in Sponsorships and Events, Laspas has successfully developed and led comprehensive brand and fan engagement strategies that maximised the return on investment for leading brands across the country. Laspas has proven successful in facilitating the creation of strategic alliances that lead to the delivery of purposeful brand connections, meaningful value exchange between partners, and measurable outcomes.

-Anneliese Raftis (above centre) joins as Strategy Manager. Raftis will work as part of the agency's expanding Strategy and Analytics specialism. Her focus is to enhance MKTG's research capabilities and the leverage of insights that fuel strategic counsel to brands looking to drive receptivity with fans. Raftis recently relocated from London, where she worked in the Insights team at Publicis Groupe and in the Strategy team at Global Web Index (GWI).

-Gemma Walsh (above right) joins as Sponsorship Manager to further support MKTG's client service and specialist sponsorship consultancy offering. Walsh brings brand and account management experience through previous roles with Nespresso and Nestle and a passion for all sports.

Vicki Brown, who joined MKTG in September 2021 as Sponsorship Manager, was recently promoted to Senior Sponsorship Manager. In a short period of time, Brown has become a trusted advisor to key client Mondelez, driving new value and strategic counsel. Of her recent promotion, Brown shared "It's been fantastic to be part of the MKTG growth over the past year, where we have been delivering outstanding results for our clients. I'm looking forward to the opportunities ahead and continuing to develop my career within the business further.”

Ollie Oxenham joins as Senior Commercial Manager focused on selling MKTG's sponsorship assets to many of Australia's leading consumer brands. In his role, Oxenham will work closely with MKTG's key sports rights holder partners, including Football Australia and World Surf League, to develop go-to-market strategies and grow their brand partner portfolio. Ollie joins MKTG with a wealth of sports partnership experience through previous roles at Surfing Australia, Fox Sports, and Foxtel Media.