28. CEO insights, leadership, and igniting Spark Foundry with Imogen Hewitt

What does it take to lead the merger of two agency brands into one culturally aligned and growing business force that has quickly become one of Australia's leading media agencies?

On Episode 28 of the B-side, I speak to Imogen Hewitt, CEO of Spark Foundry Australia, one of the world's leading media agencies and part of the Publicis network.

Imogen has spent the last 20 years learning and honing her strategic leadership skills in full service, media, and creative agencies both in Australia and South-East Asia. A true marketing powerhouse, she was listed on Campaign Asia's 2017 and 2020 'Women to Watch list, and has been recognised on B&T's Women in Media Power List every year since 2017.

Imogen chats about growing up in a working-class family in Balmain and how her fortunes changed after winning a 25k scratchy ticket that helped put her through private school and sparked her passion for working in the advertising industry.

She talks about building a career  working in creative and media agencies and how this experience fostered her ability to think across disciplines and channels—giving her a hybrid strategic point of view. And how she has applied this strategic lens to the challenges faced as a new CEO, like combining two agencies with their own cultures, improving team morale, and turning around the business with a string of new business wins throughout Covid-19.

We discuss why there aren't more strategists and creatives in CEO roles leading creative and media agencies. Why marketers aren't better at marketing themselves, and how she is carving out a unique point of difference for Spark through their guiding strategic pillars of people, product, and positioning.

We jam on what makes for a successful client-agency relationship. How creative and media agencies can work better together. And the importance of having a deep understanding of our customers, the context they're in, and the value they derive from marketing interactions in order to create truly successful campaigns.

It was so refreshing to hear her no-nonsense views on strategy, the industry, leadership, and what it takes to run a media agency during these challenging times. I thoroughly enjoyed this chat, and I am sure you will too.

You can find Imogen here: linkedin.com/in/imogen-hewitt-bb27031
Learn more about Spark Foundry here: https://www.sparkfoundryww.com