CEO.
PHD International
Toby Hack has come a long way since starting his media career in 1996 at BMP DDB Needham in London as a TV buyer.
In 2001, he launched OMDtvi an interactive division of OMD UK, and three years later was appointed as Head of Fuse at OMD UK. He then took on the role of Managing Director of US company Ensequence International, the leading software supplier for the interactive broadcasting community in 2006. His next move was to Australia as Head of Multichannels and Digital Broadcasting for the Nine Network.
Toby then moved to PHD Australia as Managing Director in 2010. During his tenure PHD Australia quadrupled in size with new client wins that included Unilever, GSK, Google, ANZ, eBay, SC Johnson and Bayer. The agency was crowned Australia’s most innovative agency in 2012, and was also hailed as
Australia’s fastest growing agency three years later. (It was one of just three agencies ranked by RECMA with an A rating.)
Now in 2016 Toby Hack has returned to London as PHD International’s CEO to oversee the Network’s international unit, which includes global communications planning, media strategy development and international media buying.
With characteristic humility, he describes his new role: “I have a wide range of experience across multiple parts of the media industry including agencies, broadcasters and tech companies across three different continents. However, my latest role is the first where I have been able to bring all that experience in various local markets and different businesses into one international role.”
Toby emphasizes that delivering original solutions has always been a personal focus for him. Although he has been involved in successful projects that have created headlines and changed markets, he admits that the innovations he has found to be the most personally satisfying have been much more subtle. “I am proudest of restructuring an entire business around a new working process. Whilst this was the least obvious innovation of my career externally, it had the most dramatic and profound effect in financial terms on the overall business. This innovation created the environment for substantial and sustained growth and superior work for our client base and set us up for huge revenue growth through new business wins for many years. That’s really something to be proud of.”
At his core, Toby Hack is always quick to help. He says, “I am always prepared to support a good idea all the way and I refuse to allow anything to fail through a simple lack of effort. I believe passion, determination and enthusiasm go a long way!”