{"id":587976,"date":"2026-08-18T02:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T02:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/587976\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T02:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T02:24:11","slug":"former-hco-chief-media-officer-sasha-smith-joins-initiative-aotearoa-as-managing-director-campaign-brief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/587976\/","title":{"rendered":"Former H+Co Chief Media Officer Sasha Smith joins Initiative Aotearoa as Managing Director \u2013 Campaign Brief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t    August 18 2026, 10:53 am | BY Ricki Green | <a href=\"#comments\">No Comments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sasha-Smith-e1787014301525.jpg\" alt=\"Former H+Co Chief Media Officer Sasha Smith joins Initiative Aotearoa as Managing Director\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t    \tOmnicom Media New Zealand has today announced the appointment of Sasha Smith as Managing Director of Initiative Aotearoa, where she will lead the agency\u2019s next phase of growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Smith will report to Omnicom Media New Zealand CEO Nikki Grafton. She joins Initiative Aotearoa after five years as Chief Media Officer at Howatson+Company Australia, where she built and led the agency\u2019s media offering from the ground up and played an instrumental role in the agency\u2019s rapid expansion and industry recognition.<\/p>\n<p>During her tenure, Smith helped establish a client roster that included The University of New South Wales, UNICEF Australia, Petbarn, Honda Australia and Judo Bank.<\/p>\n<p>Backed by a network spanning more than 60 markets, Initiative is globally recognised for helping ambitious brands unlock business growth.<\/p>\n<p>Says Nikki Grafton, Omnicom Media New Zealand CEO: \u201cSasha is an exceptional leader who brings a combination of strategic and commercial acumen, a focus on client success and a track record of building high performing teams. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what she and the Initiative Aotearoa team achieve together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s leadership will be key to guiding Initiative Aotearoa through its next phase of growth, supporting its talented team, strong client partnerships, and integrated approach.<\/p>\n<p>Says Smith: \u201cInitiative is an agency that brings together brilliant people around a truly unique proposition that delivers client growth through culture. I\u2019m incredibly impressed by the calibre of talent, the strength of the client roster and the opportunities ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bestadsontv.us1.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=ed15a80d7bf550af3872a36b1&amp;id=fbbdec6d80\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Register for FREE HERE<\/a> and receive the Campaign Brief Daily Bulletin and\/or the global Best Ads Best of the Week Bulletin. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/campaignbrief.partica.online\/campaign-brief-magazine\/campaign-brief-australia-summer-2025\/flipbook\/0\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe to Campaign Brief Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>#More Creative News\u00a0\u00a0 #No paywalls\u00a0\u00a0 #No annual membership fees<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.portfolioandreel.com\/shop\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe to Portfolio &amp; Reel<\/a> for current listings of Australian and NZ ad agency and production company leadership and key personnel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 18 2026, 10:53 am | BY Ricki Green | No Comments Omnicom Media New Zealand has today&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,46,125],"class_list":["post-587976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}