Accenture Song puts Melissa Fein in charge of US media. She starts on 1 October

Accenture Song said on 16 September that Melissa Fein will run its United States media business. She takes the job on 1 October. Fein joined the firm in 2024 as managing director for media in Asia Pacific, and before that ran Initiative Australia.

Fein won Optus, Australia Post and Medibank in Australia

Her record in the region is the reason for the move. Song took the media account of Optus, an Australian telecoms operator, in June 2025. Australia Post and Medibank followed.

Sam Geer takes over the media business in Australia and New Zealand. Chris Colter and Nick Thomas work alongside him.

Accenture bought creative shops but is building media itself

In creative and design, Accenture grew by buying agencies. In media it is not doing that. The firm has talked about a United States media arm for about a decade without building one, and is promoting from inside instead.

Ami Palan, who heads Accenture Song in the Americas, said Fein brings “market-tested experience from ANZ”. The region was the test bed for a model that ties media buying to work Accenture already sells: customer data, technology and service design.

US media reviews keep moving between a few big groups

Large media accounts in the United States circle between a small set of owners. Publicis took PepsiCo’s global media this year, and Omnicom Media reported 3.3 billion dollars of new billings in the first half. A seller with a different route in can change who gets invited to the next review.

Marketers gain another bidder, one that arrives with data and technology contracts attached. The holding companies lose the argument that only they can buy media at scale. Fein has to prove it in a market where Accenture has promised media before and not delivered.