Misa McConnell, Paul Critchley and Sumi Saini join Media.Monks AUNZ

Digital-first marketing and advertising company Media.Monks AUNZ has hired Misa McConnell as Senior Copywriter, Paul Critchley as Senior Creative, Art Lead, and Sumi Saini as Experience Design Director, to bolster its creative ambitions in the market. 

The hires come as Media.Monks continues to bridge the gap between the creative ideation process and production, to deliver more impactful campaigns and content for clients. The proliferation of digital channels has spurred a heightened focus on digital, as well as developing new creative models to deliver at speed and scale. 

With Media.Monks single P&L model, clients get creative ideation and a team of makers, via a smarter way of working that brings production thinking into the creative process. This is alongside an established team of data, digital and media specialists, as well as technology consultancy, in AUNZ, all contributing to the unified model.

Tim Wood, Media.Monks ECD (AUNZ), said about the appointments, “I am thrilled with the calibre of people we’ve added this year. All three are highly experienced, award-winning talents in their own right. Working together, and supported by our unique global, single P&L model, I cannot wait to see what they collectively deliver in 2023. Next year will be a very big year for Media.Monks in AUNZ; these three people will be at the forefront of that momentum.”

Rich Lloyd, Media.Monks Content MD (AUNZ), added “All of our platform, data and media smarts mean nothing unless we get the final consumer touchpoint right. There are now 230 of us in ANZ and growing, and we’re always looking for creative people with an eye on creating experiences that are informed by technology but driven by humanity”.

Saini has been hired to lead the experience design team in AUNZ and also engage at a senior level to support Media.Monks’ experience design offering in APAC. She joins from Transport for NSW and brings a wealth of experience across both agency and client-side roles.

McConnell has worked in a diverse range of roles across both Australia and New Zealand, joining from her role as Senior Creative at whiteGREY. 

Critchley’s career spans the UK and AUNZ, most recently working at Publicis Groupe in AUNZ as Senior Art Director/Head of Design. 

McConnell and Critchley joined the business in November, while Saini will start in January 2023. The team will service clients in AUNZ, as well as servicing some of the Media.Monks APAC clients. 

The new hires also follow a series of senior hires across the AUNZ team in 2022. Earlier this year Rich Lloyd joined as Managing Director, Content in ANZ, joining from Tribal, where he was also Managing Director. Tim Wood also joined as Executive Creative Director, AUNZ. Wood’s career spans 20+ years working across all major client categories. Over the last decade, he has led highly awarded agencies in Australia and New Zealand. The strategy team was also expanded with the hire of Mitch Incoll as Head of Strategy AUNZ, bringing with him a varied career across agency, client and consultancy.

This brings the total number of Monks in AUNZ to 220 across the content, data & digital media, and technology services.