WE Expands Specialist Communication Capabilities

WE EXPANDS SPECIALIST COMMUNICATION CAPABILITIES IN AUSTRALIA

Team additions follow recent wins, significant growth and client demand for specialist services.

SYDNEY – 22 March 2021 — WE Communications (WE), a leading global communications firm, today announced the appointments of a new Head of Strategy and Art Director to its Digital and Experience Technology (DXT) team in Australia. These additions further solidify the agency’s integrated marketing services for clients, including data-led creative, paid social and performance marketing, brand and content strategy, influencer marketing, and content production, all of which deliver brand transformation and measurable impact.

Brian Keenan, Head of Strategy, Australia, brings 10 years’ experience in creative and client strategy to WE. Prior to joining WE, he built and launched Weber Shandwick’s strategy and analytics functions in Sydney. Before that, Keenan held roles in planning, creative and client innovation at Ketchum in New York and London. Throughout his career, Keenan has led campaigns across a variety of sectors with notable brands like ALDI, American Airlines, IBM and Mastercard. Brian will lead the agency’s strategy department, responsible for research, analytics, content and brand planning, and agency IP.

Mike Nikotin, Art Director, Australia, joins WE with nearly 20 years’ creative and art direction expertise from network and independent agencies, including WiTH Collective and The Works. Industry agnostic, Nikotin’s previous client partnerships have included Allianz, American Express, Foxtel, Qantas, Toyota and Virgin Mobile. Mike will steer WE’s Creative Studio to even greater heights, made up of animators, designers, editors and producers.

Led by Group Head of DXT Nichole Provatas, the team has grown to almost $3M AUD since its inception three years ago and specialist headcount has doubled over the last year.  The full-funnel marketing and creative production offering has contributed to a surge in new client partnerships for the agency and industry awards across technology, health and corporate sectors. The department proves the commercial impact of all campaigns through industry-leading data solutions and content marketing programs.

“Clients today care more about executing the best ideas and solutions to their challenges versus the idea’s origin,” said Provatas. “WE has consistently delivered innovative thinking and flawless full-funnel execution for brands like Adobe, HP, Janssen, Wise and Trend Micro. The addition of Brian and Mike to our DXT team further expands our senior bench as we continue to invest in our specialist craft and respond to the changing nature of the way people consume content following the pandemic.”

Dan Woods, Managing Director, Australia, WE, added: “It’s paramount for communicators to understand how the world’s rapid motions impact consumer behaviors and embrace new media for brand storytelling. Brian’s strategic insights combined with Mike’s creative capabilities will further enhance our counsel and available capabilities to clients as we collectively navigate today’s fast-changing reality.”

ABOUT WE

WE is one of the largest independent communications and integrated marketing agencies in the world. We’re all about people — both our clients and employees — and we believe in the power of communications to move audiences to positive action. Female-founded, female-led, and fiercely independent, WE has spent more than three decades helping world-class brands tell technology-led transformation stories that shift perceptions and change behavior.

Our global reach includes offices in 22 cities, partner networks that expand our footprint and client capabilities, and a team of more than 1,200 media and content strategists, creatives and data scientists across our technology, health and consumer sectors. Our work with global brands like Microsoft, Honeywell, McDonald’s and Volvo has been recognized by Cannes Lions, The Holmes Report SABRE Awards and PRWeek Awards, just to name a few.

For more information, press only: JJ Minder, WE Communications, [email protected]