Phil Hayden
Phil graduated from university with an applied psychology degree and spent the next decade cutting his teeth in various strategic planning roles with high profile agencies in both the UK and in Australia (Gold Greenlees Trott and the legendary Campaign Palace).
In 2000 Phil launched Bellamyhayden, one of the worlds first media neutral planning only agencies. From this challenger position Bellamyhayden swept all before it in recognition around the product it created, capturing blue chip clients such as Pepsico, Glaxosmithkline and Yum brands.
Bellamyhayden grew beyond Sydney; opening with successful offices in Melbourne, Auckland and Bangkok and in the process became Australia’s most awarded media based agency. In 2007 Phil sold the business to listed marketing services company, “The Photon Group” and rebranded to Naked Communications. Phil served as Asia Pacific Regional CEO until 2012 by which time the business had established additional offices in Singapore, Mumbai and Tokyo.
Phil brings a passion and a deep sense of brand and consumer communication planning to Viper. He has an innate interest to scope and articulate the Viper ventures from the consumer foundation and a real connection for start up businesses, their environment and culture.
Phil is a highly engaging executive who brings over 30 years of experience to the Viper team.
Simon White
Simon spent much of his early career as a media planner for global agencies Leo Burnett (London) and Ogilvy & Mather (Sydney).
In mid 1999 Simon created and launched the famous Ikon Communications brand with The Commonwealth Bank as its foundation client. The CBA is one of the largest advertisers in Australia and is the most highly valued bank in the world based on P/E ratio.
From this explosive start Ikon redefined the modern media agency, from its provocative stance of eschewing upfront bulk media buying deals to a proprietary dynamic approach, and building a unique employee centric culture in an industry known for being sweatshops. Ikon’s prizes were a premium client list that was the envy of other agencies around the world and included Coca Cola, Vodafone, Westfield, Goodman Fielder, Sony, Diageo and LG.
Ikon quickly became an A+ rated agency for 6 consecutive years, was awarded Agency of the Year by the Australian Press more than any other media agency, and was voted in the top 10 places to work in Australia, just behind Google and Apple who was voted by BRW as the top.
When Ikon sold to publicly listed STW Group in 2007, Ikon had grown to over 200 staff in all states of Australia and NZ. Post the sale of Ikon Communications, Simon has helped and backed Bohemia Group, another media agency, which is currently the fastest growing media agency in Australia.
Simon brings a clear understanding of the media landscape in Australia and has strong connections with local and global media owners. This is a critical component in our route to market for our new ventures and how Viper will access capital.