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Todd Sampson

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Todd Sampson
Sampson and his wife Neomie
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
NationalityAustralian[1]
Education
Occupations
Television
MovementEarth Hour Initiative
Board member of
SpouseNeomie Sampson
Children2
Awards
Websitetoddsampson.com.au

Todd Sampson is a Canadian-born Australian award-winning documentary-maker and television presenter.[2] Prior to his public career, Sampson worked as an advertising executive and he currently sits on the Qantas board. He is best known for being a regular panellist on marketing discussion program Gruen, and has also been a guest host on The Project. His choice of t-shirts always spark a trove of controversial discussions post appearance.[3][4] Sampson has also created and presented several science documentary series.

Early life and education

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Sampson was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He left Cape Breton Island at age 16, completing his schooling at the Pearson United World College of the Pacific, to which he won a CA$30,000 scholarship. He then studied economics and biology at Queen's University in Ontario, working as a college counsellor to supplement his income. He applied for another international scholarship and went on to complete an M.B.A. at the University of Cape Town.[5] He credits a guest lecturer–a creative director from advertising agency Ogilvie & Mather–during his MBA for inspiring him to pursue a career in advertising.[6]

Business career

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Sampson started in advertising at the Cape Town agency The White House. In the mid-1990s, he worked as a strategist at Australian company The Campaign Palace.[5] He joined Leo Burnett Sydney in 2002[7] and was later appointed CEO of Leo Burnett Australia. In August 2015, Sampson stepped back to the role of non-executive chairman. In December 2016, he resigned as chair of Leo Burnett and is no longer a part of the advertising industry.[8]

He is the co-creator of the Earth Hour initiative, one of the largest environmental movements in history, reaching more than 1.4 billion people in more than 5,500 cities.[9]

In 2014, Sampson was appointed to the board of directors of Fairfax Media, a 2.5-billion-dollar multi-platform media company in Australasia.[9]

Effective February 2015, Sampson joined the Qantas board of directors as a non-executive director.[10][11] His 9-year tenure on the board has recently been called into question with sentiments on Qantas being at an all-time low.[12][13][14]

Television career

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Sampson is a regular panellist on the ABC television media review program Gruen. He sometimes appears as a panellist and guest host on Network Ten's The Project.

In October 2013, he was the subject of a science documentary series, Redesign My Brain. The documentary won the 2014 AACTA Award for Best Documentary Television Program.

Sampson has also written and hosted an adventure science series for Discovery International and Network 10 called Todd Sampson's Body Hack. Body Hack was nominated for two Logie Awards – Best Factual Series and Most Outstanding Documentary Series.[citation needed] Sampson also acted a small part as Provost in the Oscar-nominated feature film Lion. In early 2017, Sampson hosted an ABC Science documentary called Life on the Line.[citation needed]

In 2021, the two-part documentary series Mirror, Mirror, created and written by Sampson, screened on Network Ten. The documentary explored the crisis of body image dissatisfaction in society and the manipulative trillion-dollar industry that profits from it.[15] A second season explores how the internet is changing society and what people can do about it.[16]

Personal life

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Sampson has lived in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs since arriving in Australia and renovated a house in Vacluse in 2020.[17] He is married to Neomie Sampson, who he first met at a work function in the 1990s, before a chance encounter in the early 2000s.[18] The couple has two daughters, Coco and Jet.[19] Sampson is an adventurer, having completed an unguided ascent to the top of Mount Everest.[20]

Awards

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The Australian Financial Review and News Limited ranked him as one of the most influential executives in Australia. He has won a CEO of the Year Award twice and has featured on the cover of BRW magazine. He was ranked as one of the most influential men under 45 by Men's Style and was nominated for GQ's Man of the Year Award.[citation needed]

An art piece by Michelle St Anne called I Love Todd Sampson – Voices of the Vulnerable was performed at Walsh Bay in February and March 2013.[21]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Todd Sampson.
  1. ^ "Qantas appoints Todd Sampson as non-executive director". Australia: ABC News. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Todd Sampson". Leo Burnett Australia. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. ^ Knox, David (15 August 2011). "Todd's t-shirts cause a stir". TV Tonight.
  4. ^ "How the Gruen guy's t-shirts took on a life of their own". Sunshine Coast Daily. 24 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Knox, Malcolm (13 November 2010). "A head for the hard sell". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. ^ Bennett, Lindsay (30 January 2017). "Todd Sampson exits Leo Burnett ending 20-year career in advertising". AdNews.
  7. ^ "Sampson to CEO of Leo Burnett Sydney". Campaign Brief. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  8. ^ Mason, Max (30 January 2017). "Todd Sampson leaves advertising, Leo Burnett". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Fairfax Media appoints Todd Sampson to board". Australia: ABC News. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Qantas appoints Todd Sampson as non-executive director". Australia: ABC News. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Board of Directors". Qantas. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  12. ^ Achenza, Madeleine (19 October 2023). "Investors warned against re-electing Gruen panellist Todd Sampson to Qantas board". NCA NewsWire.
  13. ^ "Todd Sampson accidentally nails the big problem at Qantas". Chanticleer:The Australian Financial Review. 3 November 2023.
  14. ^ Pash, Chris (3 November 2023). "Todd Sampson survives Qantas protest vote". AdNews.
  15. ^ ""The problem is everywhere": Why Todd Sampson made Mirror Mirror".
  16. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (26 September 2022). "Todd Sampson's 'Mirror Mirror: Love and Hate' to Premiere on October 10".
  17. ^ Macdonald, Emily (6 May 2020). "Sydney's rich and famous renovate from Palm Beach to eastern suburbs". Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  18. ^ Mayoh, Lisa (11 April 2018). "Todd Sampson on adventures and why Bondi is still home". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  19. ^ Bath, Gemma (22 September 2020). "Todd Sampson grew up thinking his sister was his cousin. He found out the truth by secretly recording his parents". Mamamia. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  20. ^ Tabakoff, Nick (21 October 2013). "Ain't no mountain high enough in Sampson's ascent". The Australian. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  21. ^ Blake, Jason (4 March 2013). "Ambitious work loses out to distractions in stroll along pier". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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