Millward Brown's Australian Team 'Complete'

After 18 months of restructuring and talent search in Australia, Millward Brown's Asia Pacific CEO Andreas Sperling has announced the completion of its new line-up, highlighting four recent senior appointments. According to Sperling, the restructure answers clients' requests for a 'mould-breaking' agency.

Vivian Rowden, an Australian national who has spent the past 17 years with Ogilvy & Mather, is the new Managing Director of Millward Brown's Australia and New Zealand operations. Between 1990 and 1995 she was seconded to the agency's African business, since when she has been based in North America, most recently, as Managing Partner of Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago. She will be based in Sydney, where she started her career.

Marian McCormick becomes MD of Millward Brown's Melbourne office. A former head of Consumer Insights for Kraft Australia, McCormick has some 30 years' experience in marketing, focused around communication strategy, brand enhancement and NPD.

Dr Neil Doyle has been appointed divisional head of Millward Brown Firefly for Australia, Firefly is the group's recently launched Asia Pacific qualitative division. In ten years in the Asia Pacific region, Doyle has worked on many of the region's largest brands with clients such as Unilever, Nestle, Danone and Heineken. Client side with Coca-Cola Far East, he was responsible for providing strategic marketing direction across much of South East Asia. He recently completed a Doctorate analyzing the relationship between gender and health communication, involving use of a wide range of qualitative techniques including ethnography, semiotics and discourse analysis.

Chris Ovenden fills the new role of Business Development Director of Millward Brown's Australian resources division, the company's non-consulting survey and project management business. He was previously MD of Research International's UK-based Project Management Group.

Sperling said yesterday that in terms of talent Millward Brown in Australia had never been stronger. 'To stay on top in a competitive world, leading companies must constantly evolve to meet the needs of their clients and indeed the development needs of their own people!'

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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