Initiative announces solid growth and new hires in robust West Australian market

Initiative Perth has announced new hires due to client growth.

Initiative Perth has experienced a successful 12 months. Achievements include: increasing its client roster, adding Kleenheat to its portfolio and growing revenue by 22% across several flagship WA brands; expanding its suite of skills and capabilities by creating a new senior leadership team; and increasing its employee count by nearly 20 per cent.

Melissa Fein, CEO Initiative Australia, said: “The positive momentum achieved year-to-date confirms the fundamental strength of our business and team in Perth and the agency is firmly on track to kickstart 2023.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time and I’m genuinely thrilled the Perth office is at such a pivotal period in its history and growth. This next chapter of growth is going to brilliant for both its clients and the agency’s team.”

David Burger, MD Initiative Perth said: “Our rapid growth in Perth is the result of our emergence as a market leader in media strategy, partnerships, programmatic and data, all massive opportunities in West Australia.

“We’ve had a fantastic year with exciting expansion of several client partnerships and new business. The second half of the year has also seen us make a strong investment in talent, adding five new team members and adding to our capability plus ensuring we have the appropriate talent and resources in place to deliver best-in-class client work.

“The nationwide talent shortage may still be evident, but excitingly it has made us approach recruitment differently. We have confidently recruited from outside the media industry looking for people who may not fit the traditional industry “mould” but have a can-do attitude and a desire to learn new skills and capabilities. Appointing a team with such diverse backgrounds has brought new perspectives and ideas to the table and has already proved critical for our agency’s ongoing success and importantly enables our clients to maximize the value of media.”

The diversity of skills the new recruits add to the agency include newly appointed Group Client Director Tiaan Van Jaarsveld, a talented media practitioner from South Africa, who not only brings an international perspective but also an entrepreneurial mindset having run his own agency following a role as Managing Director role with Joe Public, one of South Africa’s leading agencies. Joining Van Jaarsveld in January is Rahila Nizam from Dubai who will take on the role of Senior Manager bringing significant experience to Initiative from working on Unilever, Pepsico and GSK with agencies including Magna, Mindshare, OMD and Digitas.

Burger explained: “Different skills, mindsets and personalities create a dynamic work environment and ultimately lead to different perspectives on how to solve client problems. And it is that sort of diverse, creative thinking that matters most to high-quality marketers.

“Through our relentless focus on client success and creative innovation we have paved the way for sustainable future growth.”

Pictured L-R are the new team members who have joined the agency in the latter half of 2022: Tase Jaycobs Stefkov (Associate Director of Planning, Media & Partnerships), Danielle Miaris (Investment Partnerships Associate), Danny Ng (Graphic Designer), Daniel Pomponio (Investment Partnerships Associate), Nabeel Ahmed (Investment Partnerships Executive), Tiaan Van Jaarsveldt (Client Director), Monica Gothivrekar (Associate Account Director) and Mollie Aamisepp (Investment Partnerships Associate)