People
Ben Peacock, Partner.
Ben is an author, creative director, cancer survivor and co-founder of the Republic.
He started his career with a degree in Economics, but soon exchanged calculator for layout pad, helping make Billy Connolly a hit for ING and Life’s Good a global line for LG. Moving abroad, his work launched the Toyota Prius in Europe before he moved to Bangkok, becoming Regional Creative Director for Unilever in Asia.
In 2006, Ben had cancer, kicked its butt and wrote a book about it, Lessons from My Left Testicle (you can download Chapter One here).
In 2008 his charity work was recognised with an IFAW Action Award, an honour he shared with Jamie Oliver.
As an author, Ben has appeared in Belle Magazine, Dumbo Feather, the Daily Telegraph, and on radio all over Australia. His book featured heavily on the ABC and was Book of the Week on 2UE.
By combining creativity with sustainability, Ben has become a regular speaker at green and social marketing events, including the Sydney Design Festival, Ethical Investor’s Green Marketing Forum, Web 2.0 for Government, Not-For-Profit Communicators’ Conference and the SA Government’s Stirring the Possum.
Ben is a spokesperson for the Cancer Council and sits on the board of Soi Dog, a charity dedicated to helping street dogs in Thailand. In his spare time he surfs, plays guitar and dreams of life in a Kombi.
Matt Perry, Partner.
In his 15 years in communications, Matt has helped promote yoghurt, beer, chocolate, toothpaste, cars, flights, holidays, drugs, search engines, cameras, TVs, fashion, cola, banks, insurance and newspapers.
Over the last four years he has turned his focus on looking at how sustainability can play a role in building brands, social change and fundraising.
He started his career at M&C Saatchi, London working in advertising before helping to set up the agency’s digital branding division in the ‘90’s.
In 2001 he moved to New York where his plans to extend the agency’s digital practice were interrupted by 9/11.
On his return to London he wrote a textbook on ‘Marketing and Creativity’ before heading to South and Central America where he was woken up to the global environmental and social crisis.
Moving to Melbourne he studied at the Centre for Sustainable Leadership which was the catalyst for him to co-found a completely new kind of agency called Republic of Everyone.
Matt regularly writes for media such as Ad News, Greenpages, Marketing Magazine and B&T. He speaks at industry events including State of Design, Design Institute of Australia and the Australian Institute of Marketing on subjects across business, brand and sustainability.
In his spare time he is coach of his son’s U5 football team.
Ian Masek, Head of Art.
Ian is a designer, art director, illustrator, big wave surfer and master of the art of woodwork.
Capable of dreaming up an award winning idea in his lunch hour, which he regularly does, Ian is as naturally talented in the creative arts as he is easy going.
With over 15 years experience, he has worked with most of Australia’s biggest and most interesting brands, including ING, Macquarie Bank, Unilever, Fosters Group, the Australian Museum, IMAX, Nikon and Dairy Farmers, to name a few.
A consumate Creative Director in his own right, we are fortunate to have Ian in charge of making things look world’s best here at the Republic.
Simon Cheatham, Go to Guy.
Simon is our Project Manager with a difference. Having worked around the world refitting hotels, he took a seachange into the world of communications and landed enthusiastically on our doorstep.
Figuring that anyone who can oversee the refurbishment of an international hotel can manage a communications campaign, we took him on board and he hasn’t disappointed, keeping everything on time, on budget and making sure even the most impossible request is accommodated.
Having grown up in the bush, Simon brings a no nonsense, RM Williams attitude to the skinny jeans world of communications. He also has a close affinity to sustainability, having seen first hand he impact that bad land management, drought and flood have on the Australian landscape.
Ben Anderson, Mr Green.
Ben Anderson has been dealing in sustainability almost since before the word was born.
In 1997 he began environmental consultancy, Sweep, working with government, schools and corporations to improve waste recycling and reduce energy usage.
Impressed with his work in this area, Ben was hired by Wollongong Council to create NSW’s first Sustainability Street. Based on a successful Victorian model, this initiative reduced household waste by 35%, water use by 26% and energy use by 18%.
Ben has also worked extensively as an environmental educator with schools of all levels, a skill that sees him perfectly placed to simplify sustainability messages for the time poor corporate market.
Ben is also founder of boutique eco retailer ecodepot.com.au
Rob Marson, PR Blackbelt.
Working under his own mantle of Killer Whale, Rob sits in the Republic office and is an essential member of the team.
By harnessing his mind early in the creative process we ensure that all campaigns and communications are planned with maximum new media in mind from the very start.
Rob’s recent work includes events for Ribena, Ovarian Research and the Spinach Festival.
His recent work with the Republic saw us work together to raise over a quarter of a million dollars for the UNHCR’s Christmas appeal, a campaign that saw him arrange Channel 9 to travel to Daadab in Kenya and report on the refugee crisis there, thus driving substantial donations to the Christmas appeal website.
Jess Miller, Activist.
Jess is an activist, online PR guru, knower of all people and things green and organiser of GreenUps, Sydney’s chapter of green drinks.
As intelligent as she is driven, Jess has been arrested for the cause, spoken passionately to Parliamentarians about all matter of environmental issues and worked exclusively in the NGO and sustainability arena since graduating from her communications degree a number of years ago.
With an understanding in the carbon market, publishing time with Green Pages magazine and campaign experience with Oxfam, she brings an integrity and understanding of sustainability to the team that few can match.
When working with the Republic, she helps conceptualise ideas then ensures they are properly seeded to the ‘deep green’ market, which can be both the most difficult and rewarding to speak to.
