10 #WomenToWatch in advertising

This week, legendary television series Mad Men returns to global screens for its final episodes. The second half of season 7 begins with uncertainty about how the program will end in just a few short episodes.

To celebrate the final moments of Mad Men, we’ve compiled a list of ten Australian #WomenToWatch in advertising.

While the advertising industry in Australia in 2015 is (hopefully) an improvement on the sexist, backward scene of the 60s and 70s depicted in Mad Men, there is still a way to go. Women are persistently underrepresented at the top tiers of advertising agencies across the country.

Up to three-quarters of female advertising professionals report having experienced gender based discrimination and sexism throughout their careers in Australia. Only 3% of creative directors in the industry are women, despite the fact that women consistently out-consume men.

With the help of these 10 trail-blazing women, Australia’s advertising industry will hopefully leave the Mad Men attitudes behind for good.

1. Nicole Gardner: Nicole Gardner is the General Manager of the Sydney bureau of the world-renowned McCann Australia. She has enjoyed a long career in global advertising that has taken her to New Zealand, London, Brisbane and now Sydney. During her time at McCann, she was awarded runner up in the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Account Service person of the Year awards. Gardner has degrees in both business and communications.
2. Karen Stocks: Karen Stocks is the Managing Director at Twitter Australia and is responsible for Twitter’s advertising business and performance. Prior to this, Stocks had a decorated career in the online advertising and media industries. She was the Managing Director of mobile and social solutions for Google, a role that put her in charge of the company’s sales and advertising strategy across the Asia Pacific region. Prior to this she was head of online sales and operations for Google, and worked at Vodafone before that.
3. Nicole Sheffield: Nicole Sheffield began her career in law, but quickly realised it wasn’t for her. At 24, she left her job as a practising lawyer to take a place at a graduate program at Telstra. This was the beginning of her career in advertising and media, and she still describes it as the best decision she has ever made. She has since been in charge of brand development at Tias eCommerce, Pacific Online, and Lifestyle Channels Group. She is now the CEO of NewsLifeMedia, a News Corp Australia business. In her role as CEO, she develops business strategies for all of the company’s iconic brands, including Donna Hay, Vogue, GQ and news.com.au.
4. Anouk Darling: As the CEO of Moon Communications, Anouk Darling is one of very few women in Australia in charge of a creative agency. Darling previously landed roles as brand manager for Louis Vuitton and Oroton as well as a role as group marketing director as Conde Nast. She came into contact with Moon while working as a consultant for Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction. She was taken on as strategic planner director, then progressed to general manager and finally CEO.
5. Katie Rigg-Smith: At just 34 years old, Katie Rigg-Smith became one of the youngest women to lead a media agency in Australia when she was appointed CEO of Mindshare in 2013. Rigg-Smith has been working for Mindshare for her entire career, joining the agency at age 20. After 12 years with the company, she was appointed strategy director in 2011. Two years later, she was appointed CEO and become the only woman at that time to lead an Australian advertising agency.
6. Natalie Harvey: Natalie Harvey is Seven West’s Brisbane sales director. She began her career in advertising with MediaCom in Sydney. She to Universal MacCann in 2005, where she served as client service manager and communications director before being made General Manager in 2012 after seven productive years with the agency.
7. Lisa Rodgers: Lisa Rodgers was recently appointed the advertising manager of Fairfax newspaper the Illawarra Mercury after a long career in advertising and sales. She was appointed to the role in May of 2014 and has since undertaken to maximise the paper’s digital advertising audience and reach. Prior to her appointment to the head role at the publication, she held advertising roles at CareerOne and Seek. She was also the National and State accounts manager at CareerOne for a number of years.
8. Mim Haysom: Mim Haysom is a leading Australian expert in banking advertising, and is currently the General Manager for the Commonwealth Bank Business at advertising giant M&C Saatchi. Prior to being appointed GM, Haysom worked for agency Whybins as regional manager on its ANZ account. Having worked at a number of reputable agencies, Mim spent two years at Clemenger Harvie Edge and another two at JWT working on a high-profile Ford account. She also spent ten years with international agency Cummins & Partners where she worked on a range of different clients’ accounts.
9. Sue Kallas: Sue Kallas is the General Manager of Mediavest Australia, a role that requires her to oversee clients including Warner, Optus, Samsung, Subaru and Mars. She was promoted to the role after 22 years’ experience in the advertising industry, starting out in 1993 at Media Decisions in Sydney. After five years, she moved to become a media planner at Sydney’s reputable Clemenger Group. She was then headhunted by the world’s first truly independent agency, Carat, and was soon promoted to Group Business Director. In this role, she managed clients as big as IAG and Hoyts Group. In 2006, Kallas joined Mediavest as a Group Business Director and was promoted to General Manager in 2012.
10. Jacqui Currie: Jacqui Currie is a global brand specialist and currently serves as the Executive Director of McCann Australia. She has had a 20-year career in brand development and advertising and has spent many of those years with McCann. She works with the agency on developing complex digital and multiplatform brand campaigns for a wide range of clients. She has experience working with clients from retail, finance, transport, health and beauty.

Who else would you add to the list?