UM Australia nabs Kristine Ballensky from U.S. as communications strategist for Sydney office
UM Australia is accelerating its capabilities in all aspects of digital communications and this week announces the hiring of Kristine Ballensky, formerly a digital strategist on Intel in Chicago, as a communications strategist at UM Sydney.
Mat Baxter, CEO of UM Australia, said the agency’s proven record in driving business results for clients particularly through digital communications brought new opportunities for the agency to invest in world class talent.
Says Baxter: “We have a new model for resourcing our teams and clients with digital talent and we are acting to bring those additional resources to UM in the near term.”
Baxter said the arrival of Stefan Burford as UM Australia’s chief strategy officer was the catalyst for the planned increases in digital talent. Burford started work at UM in mid September.
Baxter added: “Much of our new talent in digital communications development will focus in the strategy work that Stefan oversees, so he becomes a important architect in placing and utilizing the new talent we are bringing to UM.”
Ballensky previously worked for OMD in Chicago and was focused on digital strategy for high-tech company Intel for more than two years before moving to Australia and joining UM.
At UM, Ballensky will work on clients including Sony, Lego, MasterCard and Lindt.
Baxter said new additions to UM staff would be announced in the near future.