Amazon specialist agency, Podean, brings marketplace marketing to Australia
Marketplace marketing specialist agency, Podean, has today announced the launch of their Australian office under the leadership of Ashley Wales-Brown as Managing Director.
While the global Amazon website has been accessible to Australians for many years, the ecommerce giant has only recently focused on the Australian retail and advertising offering.
This focus represents a great opportunity for Australian brands, but equally some challenges.
“To succeed with Amazon it’s not just about adding images and copy to a product page, and running a search campaign,”says Mark Power, founder of Podean. “You need a partner that can help you with all the retail readiness, holistic strategy, and using unique tools – and that’s what Podean brings to Australia. Having our HQ sitting alongside Amazon’s advertising center in New York gives our Australian clients an advantage no other agency can claim.”
Podean is focused squarely on “Delivering clients sales success through leveraging every available opportunity with Amazon – and not just focusing on search and display.”
Podean’s first Australian employee, Ashley Wales-Brown, was chosen after an extensive search of both Australian and global talent.
“Ashley is the perfect fit to lead our Australian business. His blend of media agency understanding through his time at Mediabrands, advertising sales at Ninemsn and ecommerce experience at Ve provides the perfect combination to ensure our success”, said Power.
Ashley commented, “I really enjoyed the growth challenges and success we had with Ve Global across Australia and New Zealand and look forward to applying my expertise to Podean. The opportunity for Amazon, and its Australian advertisers and sellers is immense. With the support of our global team and Amazon partnerships, we’ll drive significant success here and I’m looking forward to building out the Australian team swiftly to meet client demand.”
Podean works with clients in four ways – in a direct relationship where Podean manages their retail and/or advertising needs, assisting agencies and clients who may not possess all these skills in-house, helping clients and agencies build their own world-class Amazon capabilities, and helping media companies build new products and services that are attractive to clients for whom ecommerce and marketplaces are a substantial share of budget and focus.
‘Podean plans to export all of this knowledge and give clients unparalleled understanding of Amazon’s products, tools (through partners that do not have an on-the-ground AU presence), and access to world-class media optimisation and strategy teams – including ex-Amazon US employees.
Mark concluded, “It’s a very exciting time for us. Being an Aussie myself, driving success for Australian brands on Amazon will be a great achievement for Podean. The time is right for us to launch in this market and I’m very excited that we have snared Ashley Wales-Brown. This is the start of our international rollout and we have more exciting announcements coming in the next weeks.”
About Mark Power
Mark Power is an Australian native, and the Founder and CEO of Podean, an Amazon-centric advertising agency and consultancy started in New York.
As a 20-plus year marketing and media leader, Mark has a proven track record of delivering innovative digital solutions and growth for brands globally. He has successfully built agencies across the digital spectrum, most recently at Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), where he launched IPG’s Amazon Center Of Excellence which consisted of 150 Amazon experts across display, search, brand building and marketplace development. Prior to this, he led IPG’s award-winning mobile and innovation agency, Ansible, and was EVP at Reprise, the digital media division within IPG Mediabrands.
Mark’s book, “Amazon for CMOs” launched last week and the research saw him interview and interpret the Amazon needs of some of the world’s top companies, such as Mondelez, Sony and Mitsubishi, through the lens of their CMO.
Earlier in his career, Mark was the Founder and CEO of Concep, a performance marketing agency with offices in the UK, USA and Australia.
About Podean
Podean is a marketplace marketing agency that assists endemic (brands selling products on Amazon) and non-endemic brands. Podean works with clients across all categories, many of the world’s largest media agencies, and management consultancies.
Podean’s team consists of strategic, media, creative and analytics skillsets hailing from media agencies, brands and Amazon. Podean’s US office is in New York, near Amazon’s global advertising headquarters, and the company believes in using technology to enable customer-centricity and access to the best skillsets including a cloud-based workforce across America, Europe and Asia.
Podean Australia will be based in Sydney, and can be reached by contact@podean.com