Clearly, Jaimes Leggett, group chief executive officer of M&C Saatchi Australia, has been doing a good job as interim chair of The Communications Council in the last seven months. At The Communications Council’s 2016 AGM in May, he was voted in as ongoing chair.

Since taking the position last October, Leggett has overseen the rejuvenation of The Communications Council’s strategic plan, which has included delivering an enhanced training calendar for Australian agencies. This has added seven internationally recognised IPA online and residential courses to the long-standing AdSchool, AWARD School and Graduate programs.

He has also led the introduction of the AWARD partnership with Semi Permanent to raise the profile of the industry to a broader audience of creative professionals and students.

Jaimes Leggett

Next week, The Communications Council’s Advertising Pays report will be released. This is an independent study into the economic value of the industry, revealing how advertising in its broadest form can be used by government and business to achieve strategic objectives. The study will be released on Wednesday 15 June, with an initial launch event in Sydney.

Leggett commented, “We have made some important steps, with several successful partnerships that have allowed us to raise the profile of our industry among broader creative audiences, and the development of a more structured and comprehensive training program. Over the next six months we will continue to focus our efforts on building a culture of continuous professional development through the delivery of world class training, championing commercial creativity and effectiveness through our annual Effies Awards, and raising the reputation of our industry as we share the findings of our Advertising Pays study next week.”

Tony Hale

Tony Hale, chief executive officer of The Communications Council added, “We are delighted that Jaimes has agreed to continue as Chair. He has helped navigate several key and progressive developments within The Communications Council to build a more sustainable and valuable model for members moving forward. We have a great calendar of activity planned for the coming months, kicking off with next week’s Advertising Pays launch, which will be a great opportunity to bring our member base together to discuss the future of our industry.”

The AGM also confirmed that David Lo, chief executive officer of The Zoo Republic will step down after 10 years and Andrew Baxter, chief executive officer of Publicis, after two.

Leggett continued, “David Lo and Andrew Baxter have been heavily involved across Communications Council initiatives and activity in the many years that they have been both members and board members. I would like to thank them – and the rest of our national board – for their long-running support, knowledge and guidance. We have a smart and passionate team of leaders committed to raising standards across the industry and increasing value for our members – I look forward to continuing that work in 2016. ”