Atomic 212° appoints Sascha Bonomally to the role of head of performance and attribution

Atomic 212° has appointed Sascha Bonomally to its senior team in the role of head of performance and attribution, as the company looks to inject creativity and strategic planning into its paid digital marketing. Performance media is one of the most fluid and transformative areas of marketing, and this move will serve to future proof the business in the ever-changing landscape.

This follows the agency’s repeated success with performance media clients, which include TAB, NIB, Torrens, Mortgage Choice and Tourism NT. While performance teams tend to focus on data, targeting and paid placement, this move will focus on fostering Atomic’s strategic and creative credentials within the paid digital team.

Says Bonomally: “It’s trite to say that the consumer journey is more complicated than ever before, and the digital landscape is becoming more and more fragmented. This is the issue every marketer faces, and understanding the relationship between different marketing channels in a fragmented environment is key. The first player to accurately stitch this together will emerge the winner.

“In 2017 we are going to see unprecedented changes in the performance space. For instance, there is room to be far more precise in the attribution space, with far better instruments to accurately map consumer activity. We will also see a far more strategic approach to performance in the mobile space, while voice search is set to add a whole new layer of complexity to paid digital marketing.

“In other words, this is an exciting time to operate in this space. The business wants to navigate these uncharted waters with solid people in place. Above all, we want people who embody a collaborative approach that ensures creativity and strategy are at the forefront of all our performance briefs.”

Bonomally went on to say that agency performance teams will need to evolve drastically in the coming years if they want to remain competitive: “Data-driven agencies are a dime a dozen these days. If performance teams really want to stand out, they need to move beyond this. The future lies in leading the data management space, the future is the integration of first, second and third party data, where the agency facilitates this integration across clients and partners.

“The best performance teams will develop proprietary data management platforms, which integrate CRM, analytics, attribution and SDK, and use these platforms to truly answer client needs.”

Bonomally’s promotion is the agency’s latest step in its move to become Australia’s leading full- service creative and media business. It has been complemented by key hires within the content and creative teams, including the appointment of executive creative director Jonas Lembke. The goal is to create a truly integrated agency, which sits at the intersection of technology, media and creative.

As head of performance and attribution, Bonomally oversees the agency’s performance media output in areas like paid search and social, and works closely with Atomic 212°’s senior management in the strategy, creative, data and media buying spaces.

Says Jason Dooris, chief executive, Atomic 212°: “It’s always a great feeling when you can promote from within. There is no question that Sascha will take the team to the next level. He is also an excellent fit for the agency culturally – We’re incredibly lucky to have him in this role.”

Atomic 212°’s origins were in the performance, search and data space, so this appointment serves to strengthen these core credentials, while indirectly strengthening the agency’s creative credentials as well. The move has been a necessary consequence of Atomic’s client growth, both in terms of new and existing partners.

“We are experiencing a rapid growth phase, which is great for the business. But this acceleration brings new challenges – you need to make sure that you have the right people on board. This promotion represents the next evolution in our future-facing growth plan. We’re strengthening our full service credentials across the board, and in this case we are ensuring that our performance team remains closely linked with the rest of the agency, from both a creative and a strategic point of view.”

Bonomally said he is looking forward to taking on a more “strategic, big picture approach to client work, with a focus on commercial creativity, ROI and measureable success”.

“Atomic is the market leader when it comes to performance, so I definitely have some work cut out for me. I can’t wait.”

The appointment is the latest move in a string of successes for Atomic 212°. In recent months, the agency has won the awards grand slam, winning AdNews Media Agency of the Year, B&T Agency of the Year and Campaign’s Independent, Media, PR, Digital and Specialist Agency of the Year.