M+C Saatchi Appoints Jack Playfair as Head of Partnerships
M+C Saatchi ANZ creates Head of Partnerships role to expand Sport & Entertainment capabilities across Australia and New Zealand with experienced partnership strategist Jack Playfair.
Creative agency M+C Saatchi has appointed Jack Playfair to a newly created Head of Partnerships role, effective March 30, 2026, with a focus on building out the agency's Sport & Entertainment offering across Australia and New Zealand.
Playfair Brings Cross-Category Commercial Experience to New Role
The role was created specifically to develop and execute strategic partnerships across Sport & Entertainment. Playfair will be responsible for identifying brand collaborations, securing rights holder relationships, and sourcing talent opportunities designed to drive commercial outcomes for clients.
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Playfair joins from Bastion, where he spent three years leading integrated partnerships and brand collaborations. His client portfolio there included Gatorade, TAB, Kia, SIXT, Crown, and V Energy. Before moving to agency-side work, he held commercial roles at Supercars, TLA Worldwide, and Rugby Australia, giving him direct experience working with rights holders across the AFL, NRL, UFC, cricket, and Formula 1.
Dani Bassil, CEO of M+C Saatchi ANZ, said: "Jack's appointment marks an exciting new chapter for our Sport & Entertainment offering. Jack has the experience and ability to transform partnerships into genuine growth engines for clients. He'll be instrumental in strengthening our S&E offering, but also redefining what partnership excellence looks like."
Playfair said he is "thrilled to be joining M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment at such an exciting time of momentum and ambition."
Appointment Follows Sequential Leadership Build at M+C Saatchi ANZ
The Playfair hire is the second senior appointment at M+C Saatchi ANZ in early 2026. Sophie Gallagher joined the agency as Group Strategy Director in February 2026, one month before Playfair's appointment was confirmed.
The two hires together point to a deliberate capability build across strategy and partnerships, rather than isolated recruitment decisions. The Head of Partnerships role was newly created, not a backfill, indicating the agency is adding structural capacity rather than replacing existing leadership.
Agency Partnership Landscape Faces Competitive Pressure
The move comes as major creative networks face growing competition in partnership-led work. Research shows 47% of brands still prefer holding companies for partnership and media work, while 53% favor independent agencies for centralization and 45% cite flexibility as a key reason for choosing independents.
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Management consultancies including Accenture and Deloitte have also entered the partnership advisory space, adding further competitive pressure on traditional agency networks.
Separately, research on experiential marketing shows 90% of partners rank in-person events as the top channel for partnership impact, reinforcing demand for agency leaders who can execute across both live and digital formats.
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APAC Agency Talent Moves Reflect Broader Trend
M+C Saatchi's restructuring is not an isolated development. Early 2026 has seen parallel senior appointments across the APAC agency market. Wayne Deakin was named Chief Creative Officer at Bray Leino, bringing experience across Asia, Europe, and the US in brand and cultural platforms. Sarvesh Raikar took on regional creative leadership at Omnicom Indonesia, with a focus on social-first campaigns across the wider APAC region.
Both appointments reflect agencies investing in senior leaders capable of working at the intersection of brand, culture, and platform, the same territory that dedicated Sport & Entertainment partnership roles now occupy.
M+C Saatchi has not announced further structural changes or timelines beyond the Playfair appointment.
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