AUCKLAND, Wednesday: PHD Group has announced the appointment of Rachel Bayfield as chief technology & innovation officer, replacing Christophe Spence (who’s joined GroupM).
Bayfield has 15 years industry experience in Aotearoa, the UK and the US. Alongside her agency experience she has also held roles at Kantar Media, adtech startup Thunder and, most recently, Salesforce New Zealand.
PHD ceo Nikki Grafton said: “This is a pivotal role in the senior leadership team. The appointment of Rachel demonstrates the agency’s ongoing commitment to having New Zealand’s most talented and experienced marketing technology and data experts on its team.
“Martech and data is an area PHD’s clients are increasingly seeking our support with and an area where the line between agency work and client work continues to blur.
“Rachel’s seniority, depth of capability and strength of relationships will be a real asset and provide even more momentum to our consultation practice.
“Martech and data is an area clients are increasingly seeking our support with, and an area where the line between agency work and client work continues to blur.”
“PHD believes the industry will see a shift from clients wanting help with setting up technology to clients wanting help finding ways to ways to use it better than their competition.
“Achieving this requires a broader diversity of expertise. It requires a technical understanding of what could be done alongside a strategic and creative understanding of what should be done.”
Chief product & strategy officer Simon Bird said: “Rachel brings a complementary set of skills that will be instrumental in helping us deliver this.”
Bayfield joins from Salesforce, where she helped brands utilise their first party data in interesting and effective ways via a variety of Salesforce solutions.
Bayfield: “Agencies continuously need to adapt and redefine their product and ways of working, PHD has shown a consistent ability to do so, and their longevity of client relationships is a clear testament to this.”
About PHD
PHD was founded in London in 1990, and now has100 offices in 74 countries. The PHD network is part of the Omnicom Media Group, a division of Omnicom Group Inc.
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