Columbus appoints Marianne McNally as General Manager of VIC & WA, bringing female representation on executive team to 60%.

Columbus has bolstered the strategic capability of its executive leadership team with the appointment of Marianne McNally to General Manager VIC & WA.

McNally has been with Columbus since 2013, most recently as Group Business Director across key accounts including BMW, The Good Guys and Victorian Government. As General Manager VIC & WA, McNally is charged with strategic market growth delivering innovative client strategies and a people program to attract and retain top talent. 

CEO of Columbus Australia, Rebecca Tos, said, “Marianne’s work and leadership has contributed to Columbus’ growth and innovation in Victoria over the past four years and this is evident from our two shortlists at this year’s Cannes for the Fire Ready Victoria, Alert Campaign working alongside Dentsu Mitchell & BWM Dentsu”. 

“Marianne was the standout candidate based on her superb knowledge of customer-driven marketing strategies and her acute understanding of our clients’ businesses to drive real value”. 

McNally said, ‘It has been fantastic to be part of Columbus’ evolution over the past few years, and see the agency transform into the pioneering agency that it is today. I’m thrilled at the opportunity to lead such a talented team as we continue to grow in size and skillset’. 

McNally’s appointment drives a positive diversity message for the agency and the industry with the Columbus executive team now sitting at 60% female representation. When Tos was appointed to lead Columbus in 2012, this representation was 20%. 

Historically, performance agencies have a male skewed talent base, with a mere 21% of senior management roles filled by women (The Communications Council, Salary Survey). On her appointment to lead Columbus, Tos vowed to focus on strategic diversity and inclusion programs focused on thought, age, gender and background to attract more diverse leaders of the future. 

Since that time, Tos has grown the percentage of women in Columbus from 38% (2013) to 47% (2017) through these active diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

“I’m proud of the diverse team our talent and recruitment strategy has cultivated. Columbians hail from over 24 countries and 52% are fluent in a language other than English”.