This week, B&T is running the rule over the top media investment chiefs of Australia and New Zealand.
As was the same as last year, this list includes both holdco and indie agencies. When assessing this year’s list, B&T considered a range of factors including standing within the industry, the size of billings they handle, results driven for clients, longevity of client relationships and innovation.
The names that narrowly missed the year’s list include Spark Foundry’s Sue-Ellen Osborn, Louise Romeo of Starcom, Joanna Barnes from Bastion, Hatched’s client and investment lead Paul Wilkinson, and Avenue C’s media spend masterminds Daniel Cutrone and Andrew Markou.
In order to put this list together, B&T considered nominations from the industry, our own understanding of the market, and insights from trusted advisors and respected figures across the media and agency world.
Here is this year’s Best of the Best media agency investment bosses.
10) MICHAEL BASS, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, KAIMERA & HAVAS MEDIA NETWORK
Michael Bass is a long stay of the media industry, working with the likes of UM, MediaCom, Initiative, dentsu and now Kaimera and the Havas Media Network.
Throughout his career he has covered many disciplines within the media sector including group negotiations, commercial strategy, programmatic trading & data solutions, revenue generation, client service and account management. He specialises in investment where he leverages comprehensive investment and trading experience across pricing, revenue, negotiations, sales, reporting and influence at a holding group level.
Bass has only recently taken over the investment duties at both Kaimera and Havas Media Network, but with his expertise we expect his clients of the likes of Red Bull, Taylors Wines, MG, Nandos to benefit greatly.
His impact has already been felt with Havas Media winning children’s entertainment company Spin Master in July.
9) SUE CANT, HEAD OF INVESTMENT, THIS IS FLOW
This Is Flow’s head of investment Sue Cant has led investment at This is Flow for the past two and a half years.
She’s a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the media industry. Before she joined the indie media agency Cant was most recently head of media at AFFINITY. Prior to that, she served as Dentsu X’s head of investment and client/investment lead at Carat for close to seven years.
Her peers have told B&T that what sets her apart is how much “she values genuine publisher relationships”. More particularly she’s “transparent, direct and great to deal with” and she consistently “drives great results across the board”.
Cant and Flow have had strong start to 2026, securing the media accounts for Cranky Health and Charles Sturt University, whilst retaining Workwear Group. The retention sees the agency continue its longstanding partnership with KingGee, Hard Yakka and NNT.
8) LORRAINE WOODS, CHIEF INVESTMENT AND OPERATIONS OFFICER, ATOMIC 212º
Lorraine Woods is an experienced trading director who has been with Atomic 212° for a decade and has been in the chief investment role for two and a half years.
Within the industry she is seen as one of the sharpest investment bosses with a proven history in media buying, television, sponsorship and media planning.
On last year’s list we speculated that with some extra Publicis firepower, Woods will look to further cement her position as a true leader in the media buying world.
It appears she has done so, notching up the most pitch wins out of any agency in 2025 with 31. The role as an investment chief is about getting the most out of a client’s dollar however. And Woods has kept her clients happy, deepening partnerships with GWM, Monash IVF, O’Brien Glass and Flinders University,
7) SARAH JAMES, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, ESSENCEMEDIACOM AUSTRALIA
Sarah James jumped ship to WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom nearly two years ago. Before that she had spent five-and-a-half years as Initiative’s Melbourne MD.
In the past two years the WPP owned media agency has delivered for its clients, retaining the likes of Uber, Isuzu, World Vision and the NRL.
The agency has also had countless wins since she took on the chief investment officer role. In that time the agency has won Micheal Hill, alcohol giant Lion, Australian Retirement Trust, Mastercard and Max (formerly HBO Max).
These wins plus the retention mentioned earlier saw EssenceMediacom score equal second with relative Mindshare on the 2025 RECMA qualitative rankings.
6) JANE COMBES, CHIEF MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS OFFICER, OMD AUSTRALIA
With 26 years of media buying experience, Jane Combes is one of Australia’s most respected and trusted media partnerships leaders.
As chief media partnerships officer at OMD Australia, Combes leads national investment strategy, trading frameworks and media partner relationships across Australia’s largest media agency, whose clients include Coles, McDonald’s and Telstra.
Renowned for her integrity, commercial acumen and commitment to transparency, Combes has built a reputation as a fierce advocate for accountability and a collaborative approach that delivers value for clients and media partners alike.
Throughout her career, Combes has transformed investment scale into a competitive advantage, leveraging deep market relationships and decades of experience, she brings clients, media partners and agency teams together to unlock innovative solutions, outperform market inflation benchmarks and deliver measurable commercial outcomes.
Combes is currently leading the evolution of OMD’s investment function from a traditional buying operation into a catalyst for innovation and growth. OMD tell us that she champions the integration of investment expertise earlier in the planning process, which creates a stronger collaboration with media partners and richer creative opportunities.
5) NIK DOBLE, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, MINDSHARE AUSTRALIA
Nik Doble has cemented his reputation as one of Australia’s most influential investment leaders, driving commercial innovation, client growth and agency transformation at Mindshare. His impact was recognised with his promotion to chief investment officer last year.
As CIO, Doble leads Mindshare’s investment operations across Australia, overseeing the delivery of innovative investment solutions for clients including Suncorp, Nestle, Asahi, Unilever, NAB, Foxtel and Nike. Under his leadership, investment has evolved to become a genuine growth driver, combining stronger commercial outcomes with access to emerging opportunities and market-leading partnerships.
Doble is responsible for more than $650 million of Mindshare’s media spend and has been a significant driver of the double-digit billings growth the agency has experienced year-on-year.
Over the past year, Doble has played a significant role in Mindshare’s business momentum. His ability to balance client value, innovation and commercial accountability has helped position Mindshare as a leading investment business in market.
This has seen Mindshare come in equal second in 2025 on RECMA’s qualitative rankings.
4) ELIZABETH BAKER, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, ZENITH MEDIA AUSTRALIA
Elizabeth Baker is chief investment officer at Zenith Media Australia, where she leads a national team of 80 plus investment specialists. With almost 30 years in media and more than 23 years at Zenith, she oversees investment strategy, commercial governance, marketplace partnerships, media owner negotiations and investment capability.
Her leadership contributed to Zenith achieving the number one COMvergence total new business ranking in 2025, whilst maintaining strong investment performance. According to Zenith Media she delivered a 100 per cent KPI across heavily audited and performance-linked client portfolios. This includes Aldi, Disney and Mars.
Baker is also a passionate advocate for using investment to create broader industry and community impact. In 2026, she led the development of Zenith’s first agency wide Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) investment framework, helping increase tracked multicultural investment.
Not to mention Baker won the 2025 Media Planner/Buyer category at the 2025 B&T Women in Media Awards.
3) ANTHONY ELLIS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFIDER, PUBLICIS MEDIA EXCHANGE (PMX)
Anthony Ellis leads Publicis Groupe’s central media investment and intelligence unit. He is also in charge of Publicis Sport & Entertainment ANZ, helping shape the future of media, content, partnerships and commercial innovation across the region.
Over the past five years, Ellis has transformed the PMX business, expanding its capabilities, influence and market impact. Under his leadership, PMX has grown to more than 70 specialists across Australia, New Zealand and Asia, with the launch of PMX New Zealand in 2023.
According to COMvergence and RECMA, Pubvlicis won and retained the most new business in 2025, adding $208 million (A$294 million) to be exact).
Alongside continuing to drive the Groupe’s client-centric approach to deliver tailored investment solutions, Ellis’s remit has also expanded to include Publicis Groupe ANZ’s Sport & Entertainment division.
This has included the creation of new content and brand-funded entertainment capabilities. In 2026, Publicis Sport & Entertainment launched in New Zealand, further strengthening the Groupe’s local sport and partnerships offering.
2) MARELLE SALIB, CHIEF MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS OFFICER, OMNICOM AUSTRALIA
Few media executives wield the influence and industry impact of Marelle Salib. As chief media partnerships officer at Omnicom Media, Salib oversees media investment and partnerships within Australia’s largest media agency group, which now accounts for almost 45 per cent of Australia’s assessed media agency market activity according to RECMA, following the integration of IPG Mediabrands.
Leading at this scale is one thing. Successfully bringing together two of the country’s largest media investment businesses while continuing to strengthen client outcomes, deepen media partner relationships and drive industry innovation is another.
As the architect of Omnicom Media’s partnerships strategy, Salib has helped redefine the relationship between agencies, media partners and clients, shifting the conversation from transactional buying and selling to strategic partnerships built around innovation, collaboration and client growth.
She has played a pivotal role in navigating one of the most significant organisational transformations the Australian media industry has seen in recent years, helping integrate investment operations, commercial frameworks and media partnerships across two major businesses while continuing to deliver exceptional outcomes for clients and meaningful value for media partners.
1) MELISSA HEY, CHIEF INCESTMENT OFFICER, WPP MEDIA
Melissa Hey has helped redefine what modern investment leadership looks like and has been one of the driving forces behind the evolution of investment at WPP Media.
Media investment is often measured through the lens of buying power and cost efficiency alone, but Hey has championed a fundamentally different approach, positioning investment as a lever for growth powered by data, technology and commercial expertise.
Throughout her career, as the pace of change has accelerated, Hey has explored new technologies, partnerships and operating models that create value for clients and strengthen the capabilities of the teams around her.
Her impact is evident in WPP Media’s strong new business performance across 2025 and 2026. COMvergence and RECMA placed WPP Media’s 2025 total new business at $194 million (A$274 million). And in 2026 it’s been reported that WPP Media has retained L’Oreal and won BYD.
Hey has played a key role in evolving how investment WPP Media teams operate by embedding commerce, retail media and performance into day-to-day planning and activation, rather than treating them as siloed specialist channels. By integrating these disciplines into core investment processes, she has helped clients connect brand building and conversion activity in a more effective way while maximising ROI.
Rather than treating investment, data and technology as separate disciplines, Hey has helped bring them together to create a more accountable and measurable approach. And that is why she was on B&T’s Women in Media Power List and has taken the highly sought after number one spot on this list!
Article originally published on B&T.
