REA’s Richard Lehocz joins Carat Melbourne in new head of client leadership and operations role

Carat Melbourne has today announced the appointment of Richard Lehocz (right) to the newly created role of head of client leadership and operations, reporting into Melbourne managing director, Joseph Pardillo (left), as part of the agency’s executive leadership team.

Lehocz joins Carat after four years with REA Group in the role of national sales director, tasked with driving the national sales strategy of what is now one of the country’s most successful digital media businesses. Prior to REA, Lehocz spent ten years with Fairfax Media, playing an integral role in the publisher’s digital transformation.

Joseph Pardillo, MD of Carat Melbourne, praised Lehocz’s ‘unique perspective’ as a perfect fit for the agency.

Says Pardillo: “Richard’s spent the bulk of his career on the cutting edge of digital, data, and analytics – his experience and fresh thinking will be invaluable in supporting Carat’s continued evolution. We’re committed to connecting our clients with the right talent to help them capitalise on the opportunities presented by the digital economy, and we believe we’ve found that in Richard.

“He has a proven track record of consistently delivering innovation and market-leading client service; we’re excited to be attracting his calibre of talent to the team.”

Lehocz is the agency’s second senior hire from a digital publisher in as many months, with Carat’s national CMO, Andrea Rule, joining from Yahoo7 earlier in the year.

Says Lehocz: “It’s an exciting time to be in media. Rapid transformative change is presenting all sides of our industry with new challenges, and after fifteen years publisher-side, I’m looking forward to approaching them from a new angle. Carat is clearly committed to evolving their offering ahead of the market, and with such an exciting line up of clients, I can’t wait to get started.”

Lehocz joins the team in October.