Big Red Group has promoted Toni Westlake to the newly created role of Head of Brand & Marketing. Westlake, who has a decade of experience in marketing, has assumed the position with immediate effect.

Westlake joined Big Red Group in 2020 as Brand Manager for its adventure marketplace, Adrenaline, before stepping into the role of Senior Marketing Manager. In her new role, Westlake will focus on building out the marketing team and supporting the long-term sustainable growth of Big Red Group and its consumer brands, including RedBalloon, Adrenaline, and Experience Oz.

The role is not a direct replacement for the group marketing director position at BRG, which was previously held by Matt Gudge. Instead, it fits into a new structure at the group. Westlake will be sitting alongside the Head of Performance and ‘Head of Digital Experience’ roles supporting the consumer side of the business. The Head of Brand and Marketing role oversees the brand, campaign and creative teams – the latter of which will be reintroduced for the first time since 2021.

Jemma Fastnedge, Chief Customer & Sustainability Officer at Big Red Group, expressed her confidence in Westlake’s abilities.

“In a multi-brand business such as ours, it’s of the utmost importance that our leadership team can get under the skin of our brands, understand what makes them and their respective consumers tick – and then make strategic decisions that support the wider business to make an impact and move forwards,” Fastnedge said. “That’s why Toni’s appointment as Head of Brand and Marketing is one that just makes sense. Over the past four years, she has proven herself to be a highly-skilled and well-respected member of the team whilst making an incredible impact on Adrenaline.”

Westlake will report to Fastnedge and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Sydney. Big Red Group operates an industry-leading platform, enabling the wholesale distribution of experiences through domestic and international partners, powering its renowned domestic marketplaces RedBalloon, Adrenaline, Experience Oz, and Everything NZ.

One of Westlake’s next priorities is to build out an internal creative team.

“I’ve relished the opportunity to work on Adrenaline for the past four years – and am incredibly excited to be taking the next step by applying my expertise across the Big Red Group portfolio,” she said. “As we gear up for the busiest trading period of the year for our brands, my priorities are ultimately challenging the way we work and think, building out a new creative team – which we haven’t had since 2021 – and dedicating full-time resources to brand growth and asset building.”