Facebook Australia has hired a head of media planning and a head of video as the business globally reveals its strong quarter two earnings.
Daniel King has been named head of media planning and Kenny Griffiths as head of video, in the two newly created roles. Griffiths joins Facebook from Volt Media where he was managing director. He will lead on video strategy, collaborating with brands and agencies to help them drive awareness and growth through Facebook.
King is a senior media executive with more than 20 years’ experience in broadcast and agency roles. He joins Facebook to lead brand strategies across Australia and New Zealand (AUNZ), drive positive outcomes for brands and support them to leverage the platform to get even closer to audiences.
Ellie Rogers, head of agency, Australia and New Zealand, said Facebook video is now a growing part of the broadcast pie, with more and more CMO’s and agencies talking to Facebook about their challenges in using traditional broadcasters to reach their audiences.
“Over the last year the number of video posts on Facebook has increased by over 50% in Australia," She said. "We believe that our scale provides a solid solution to the industry’s challenges around reach, whilst at the other end of the spectrum our targeting capabilities can reach real people and measure all the way through to the store.
“To respond to this demand we have created these two new roles. Daniel is already playing a critical role in helping brands leverage the Facebook platform, whilst Kenny will boost our video strategy offering to clients across AUNZ,” she said.
The hires come as, globally, the business reported quarter two revenues of $4.04 billion, an increase of 39%, compared with $2.91 billion in the first quarter of 2014.
Globally ad revenue grew 43% from last year, with the business citing the growth would have tipped 55% if the impact of currency was excluded. Mobile ad revenue grew 74% year-on-year to $2.9 billion, with mobile making up 76% of Facebook's total ad revenue.
The business reported across Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, people are now spending more than 46 minutes per day on average. 968 million people are active users on Facebook on a daily basis.
The businesses also noted that over the coming months Instagram ads will be available to more advertisers with new formats, better targeting, and the ability to buy online as well as through third party partners.
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.