Cake.Shop hires Rhiannon Brown to lead commercial push

Australian programmatic media buying platform Cake.Shop has appointed Rhiannon Brown as Commercial Director, following her departure from US-based adtech firm MIQ.

Brown joins as Cake.Shop looks to strengthen its position in independent and transparent digital media buying. Launched in 2023, Cake.Shop operates as a hybrid media partner for independent agencies, challenger brands and publishers.

Based in Sydney, Brown will work with co-founders Luke Hills and Georgia Woodburne. She will lead commercial strategy and manage relationships across agencies, advertisers and the broader local media market.

Brown spent seven years at MIQ, most recently as NSW Sales Director. Her 17-year media career spans print, out-of-home and digital, including roles at Fairfax Media, Carsales and Bauer Media.

Cake.Shop sells programmatic advertising technology and services, offering a self-service platform, managed infrastructure and trading services. It also provides advisory and support linked to programmatic operating models.

Transparency focus

Cake.Shop positions its offering around clearer disclosure of how programmatic media buying works, including billing and data use. It argues marketers and agencies need greater visibility into technology costs and media placement outcomes.

It also points to demand among independent agencies and brands for alternatives to large holding company models. This includes interest in in-house and hybrid trading, where some buying functions sit within an agency or brand while others are managed by an external partner.

Brown said she joined the company because of concerns about how the independent segment manages media buying operations and billing arrangements.

"I decided to join Cake.Shop because I want to help agencies and brands secure better control over their ad spend and systems," said Rhiannon Brown, Commercial Director, Cake.Shop.

She also pointed to the reliance on external infrastructure and outsourced platforms among independent operators.

"A big chunk of the independent market in Australia still runs operations and billing through external infrastructure or via outsourced platforms. This means brands are seeing their marketing budgets wasted, which has a direct impact on their growth," said Brown.

Cake.Shop says the platform gives clients visibility over technology, data and billing systems. Its product set includes self-serve tools and managed services, designed to suit different levels of in-house expertise and resourcing.

Product roadmap

Alongside the senior hire, Cake.Shop has flagged a technology update later this year. It plans to introduce a new layer connecting buying, billing, automation and reporting.

The structure is intended to be modular, allowing agencies to adopt components on a plug-in basis and access them without long-term contract commitments.

Hills said the pitch reflects market concern about opaque technology setups in digital advertising, particularly in programmatic buying where multiple intermediaries can sit between an advertiser and a publisher.

"The advertising market currently has limited clarity on how to achieve profitable performance because of the black box nature of many technology offerings, and this is leading to low returns and media wastage," said Luke Hills.

He added that Cake.Shop plans to raise its profile with independent agencies, publishers and challenger brands.

"Our ambitions are to more actively demonstrate the Cake.Shop value proposition to independent agencies, publishers and challenger brands, and make programmatic media a more appealing investment," said Hills.

Brown's appointment comes as ad buyers across Australia continue to scrutinise fees, supply paths and measurement in programmatic advertising. Agencies and brands are increasingly focused on how budgets split between working media and technology, data and service costs.

Brown will help expand Cake.Shop's services across brands and agencies, including models that combine in-house trading with external support and infrastructure. The company expects to roll out its new technology layer this year as part of the broader commercial push.