iris beefs up planning across Asia Pacific

iris has appointed Dan Pankraz to the newly created role of Joint Regional Planning Director for Asia Pacific, following a period of continued growth for the agency in the region.

Pankraz moves from M&C Saatchi, where he was deputy planning director leading the Google account. He brings with him 12 years of experience at agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, BBH New York, and DDB Sydney. Based in Sydney, Pankraz will be strategic lead on key local and regional accounts such as Adidas, Sony and Shell.

Luke Nathans, Regional Business Development Director for iris Asia Pacific, said, “Our clients increasingly need to be behaving like publishers, community facilitators and technology pioneers in order to stay ahead of the pack and we aim to give them the tools and strategies to do this. Our recent new business wins in Australia and increased regional footprint has meant that we need the best talent working in every aspect of the business. Extraordinary strategy is key to our success and I have no doubt that Dan, working alongside existing Strategy Director Paul Gage, will give us the strategic firepower we need to take the agency into the future.”

Pankraz’s hire is a key development in the agency’s investment in its planning function globally, which has been underway since its announcement of its global strategic partnership with US media and marketing giant Meredith at the end of last year. It has since been working with the 100-year old content network to share strategic tools and assets in terms of content, platforms, data and insight, allowing it to deepen its specialisms in retail, CRM and social.

iris’ Sydney office has been responsible for such acclaimed campaigns as ‘The Great DVD Amnesty’ for Sony, featuring actor Jean Claude Van Damme. It forms a key hub in iris’ expanding network across Asia Pacific, which includes offices in Singapore, Melbourne, Beijing, Shanghai, New Delhi and Jakarta.