Jane Ractliffe. Credit: AdNews
Jane Ractliffe has left Guideline SMI, ending a 16-year run at the advertising intelligence business she co-founded as Standard Media Index (SMI), AdNews can reveal.
Ractliffe most recently served as Guideline SMI APAC managing director, having continued with the business as SMI became part of the Guideline group.
Ractliffe co-founded SMI with Sue Fennessy in 2009, building the company into a provider of advertising expenditure data sourced from media agency booking systems.
She became a key Australian spokesperson on advertising expenditure trends, regularly providing analysis on market movements.
A Guideline spokesperson confirmed Ractliffe's departure to AdNews.
"We can confirm that Jane Ractliffe is no longer with Guideline," the spokesperson said.
"Jane was an early employee of one of the founding businesses that became Guideline, and we thank her for her contribution over the years. We wish her well in her future endeavors.
"Out of respect for Jane's privacy, and consistent with our approach to individual employment matters, we won't be commenting further on the circumstances surrounding her departure."
Before launching SMI, Ractliffe spent 15 years as a business journalist, including as media editor at The Australian.
She has previously said the lack of reliable advertising expenditure data while covering the media industry inspired the creation of SMI.
SMI built its business by analysing media agency booking data to provide agencies, media owners and marketers with a clearer picture of advertising investment.
The company became part of Dreamscape in 2022 following a strategic investment backed by US private equity firm GTCR. The business later became part of Guideline, which now operates the SMI business as Guideline SMI.
For more than a decade, Ractliffe was closely associated with SMI's advertising expenditure reports, making her a familiar commentator on agency investment trends.
Her departure means neither of SMI's founders remains with the business.
AdNews has contacted Ractliffe for comment.
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