Bio

Matt’s career spans over 20 years encompassing diverse roles in London, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Australia. His first media agency role was at Media Campaign Services in London, one of the pioneering media independents, where he cut his teeth prior to making his first international move, to Australia. Once in Sydney, he jumped at the chance to join Zenithmedia when they launched in Australia in 1997. In the 8 years which followed he built a client group which included David Jones, in a period when their business was under-going transformational change, IAG, Audi, Best & Less, HSBC and luxury brand group LVMH. His remit included responsibility for the launch and management of the agencies analytics division, the ROI Bureau, this marked the beginning of a fascination with the role that analytics plays in the quantification of media’s impact on business outcomes. In 2005, seeking a fresh challenge, he accepted an offer to move to Malaysia as COO of Zenithmedia, and this was followed by a move to Hong Kong at the end of 2006, as Regional Client Services Director for ZenithOptimedia. In this role Matt’s responsibilities covered client management across 20 markets, creation of a digital solution for the region and the development of the agencies analytics function, Ninah. In the six years which followed he travelled extensively, witnessed the economic transformation of China and partnered with LVMH, Emirates and subsequently Gucci Group as they transformed their global models to accommodate the unprecedented creation of wealth in the Region. Matt returned to Sydney in 2013 with Zenith and two years later made the move to Match Media, recognising a kindred spirit in a business which was enjoying rapid growth and accolades with a model which leaned in heavily to digital and analytics. That success also drew the eye of Publicis which acquired Match in 2015, re-uniting Matt with his former employer. As Match evolved into Blue 449 and now Spark Foundry he progressed from Head of Client Service to General Manager and COO. Matt is one of the architects of Spark Foundry’s operating model, which adapted the analytical smarts originally developed to support a digitally heavy client base into holistic solutions for all of the agency’s clients, and all of their media investments. The model has powered Spark to phenomenal growth, with transformational new business wins including Westpac, October 2020, Toyota & Lexus, October 2021 and Johnson & Johnson, February 2022. Matt has two children, retains a curious, worldly view and still pursues sporting success.