It's hard to keep up with all the latest moves across media, marketing and advertising, so we've made a list. Check out the biggest moves in adland this week.
Sky News gives Alan Jones primetime show
Alan Jones has joined Sky News Australia to anchor a new primetime program after his exit from Nine’s 2GB. The former radio breakfast show host signed an exclusive deal with Sky, owned by News Corp Australia, for a weeknight program called Alan Jones. The show will premiere Monday July 6, across Sky News and Foxtel, as well as regional free-to-air news channel Sky News on WIN. Jones, who had already frequented Sky News panels throughout his radio career, says he left his 2GB gig due to doctors’ advice and will now host the Sky News show four days a week.
Simon Ryan returns to advertising
Simon Ryan, the former ANZ CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network, is back in the industry with RyanCap, a digital first advertising and marketing communications company. Ryan left Dentsu in late 2018 after nine years with the holding group and then stepped down as managing director commerial at carsales in December last year. He says his new venture focuses on new economy marketing, data and technology businesses.
Innocean appoints Australian CEO
Creative agency Innocean has appointed Jasmin Bedir as its Australian CEO following an extensive search. Bedir replaces Peter Fitzhardinge who announced his departure from the agency in March after five years in the top role. Bedir brings more than 20 years’ experience in advertising, strategy and business growth to Innocean. She was most recently managing director for Spark44 in Sydney since the agency opened in Australia in 2015, and also for the newly-established Singapore and Taipei offices.
Hearts & Science acquires
Omnicom Media Group's Hearts & Science has acquired Melbourne media agency Max & Partners. The business will be incorporated into the data-driven media agency Hearts & Science. Gerard Max, the head of the boutique agency founded in 2012, becomes managing partner in the Hearts Melbourne office. Prior to launching Max & Partners, Max held the positions of sales director of Nine Network in Melbourne and general manager of the Multi Channel Network.
Coles boosts marketing team
Coles has strengthened its marketing team with the appointment of Sujeet Rana as general manager, customer experience and technology. Rana joins Coles with 17 years’ digital experience in the technology, retail and construction sectors. Most recently, he spent two and half years as chief digital officer at Built Pty Ltd, with overall accountability of the digital technology strategy and implementation. He was also GM, customer technology at Woolies X over several years.
Ogilvy names global CEO
Andy Main, the global head of Deloitte Digital, has been appointed global CEO of WPP's Ogilvy. Main succeeds John Seifert, a lifer advertising man, who in April announced plans to step down from the advertising agency after four decades, including five as CEO. Main is a pure consultant and his arrival at Ogilvy signals a change in culture. He began his career with Andersen Consulting and moved to Deloitte Consulting in 1999 as a principal in the Hi-Tech Practice. He has also previously served on Deloitte Consulting's board of directors.
Junkee co-founder steps down
Tim Duggan, co-founder of youth brand Junkee Media, is stepping down as publisher after 14 years. He will become editor-at-large, spending time writing, travelling and developing projects. His first non-fiction book, Cult Status: How to Build a Business People Adore, will be published July 2. Rob Stott, the current managing editor of the oOh!media subsidiary, will be promoted to editorial director.
Carat strengthens strategy offering
Dentsu Aegis Network media agency Carat has made several new appointments to strengthen its strategic and planning capabilities and fuel innovation. Linda Fagerlund joins as chief strategy officer, Danni Wright has been promoted to national head of strategy and comms planning, and Cameron Law joins as strategy director, Carat Queensland. Fagerlund has worked for 14 years in senior strategic roles across media agencies, creative agencies and the publisher side including Leo Burnett, News Corp Australia, Match Media and Ikon. Prior to joining Carat, she was national head of strategy at Spark Foundry Australia. Law joins Carat following seven years with Ikon as communications director, with the last three years spent leading the $40 million Flight Centre Travel Group account.
ABC dumps 250 jobs
The ABC plans to cut programming and axe up to 250 jobs as part of its five-year plan to address funding cuts from the government. The broadcaster is facing a budget shortfall of $84 million and managing director David Anderson says the five-year plan, from 2020-2025, to tackle the cuts will affect every division across the company.
Former Sony marketer joins outdoor indie
Street poster and outdoor advertising agency Rock Posters has appointed Marcus Seal as general manager. Seal is a veteran entertainment marketer who has held senior management and marketing positions in Sydney and Melbourne. Most recently he was head of marketing at The M Agency, a specialist in the music, entertainment and lifestyle domain. Prior to that he was head of commercial marketing with the world’s largest live entertainment company, Live Nation. He has also worked at Sony Music as director of international marketing and CEO of independent, Shock Entertainment. He also gained experience at the City of Melbourne heading up the communications team.
Seek's Sarah Macartney to lead Vend marketing
Cloud-based retail point-of-sale software provider Vend has appointed Sarah Macartney as its new director of marketing. Macartney brings 15 years of global marketing experience to the role, including an eight year career with Seek most recently as head of corporate affairs. During her time at Seek she established and ran several group functions including public and government relations as well as managing internal and external communications, and overseeing executive communications. Operating across the portfolio of companies within the Seek Group her role also encompassed leading the corporate communications for mergers and acquisitions, and advising Seeks investment portfolio of early-stage investments in their marketing and communications.
Segment hires first APAC VP
Customer data platform Segment has appointed Prakash Durgani as regional vice president, Asia Pacific and Japan. In his new role at Segment, Durgani will be responsible for charting the company’s overall growth strategy across Asia Pacific, including sales and marketing activities, to bolster the company’s market presence. Durgani has more than 20 years’ sales and engineering leadership experience in the IT industry and originally joined Segment three years ago as head of solutions Engineering, based in San Francisco.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.