It's hard to keep up with all the moves across media, marketing and advertising so we've compiled them all in one place. Check out the Movers and Shakers from this week.
Bohemia expands senior team
Media agency Bohemia has announced the appointments of Alex Skorokhod as group intelligence sirector and Kate Kennett as senior content manager. Skorokhod joins Bohemia from IPG Mediabrands where he was head of new product development. Kennett joins Bohemia from the Denstu Aegis where she was responsible for defining and managing the content marketing product for digital agency Columbus. More about Bohemia here.
Ex-David Jones boss joins soft drink challenger brand
An emerging player in the supermarket soft drink wars, Nexba, has secured the services of global retail advisor Paul Zahra, who’s joined the company as an advisor and investor. Zahra’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the business, which is embarking on its first capital raising ahead of its impending international expansion. Zahra, who’s had a 35-year career in retail, including a stint at the helm of Australian retail giant David Jones as CEO, said he was drawn to the business by Nexba’s international market potential and its focus on important health and social issues. Nexba was founded in 2011 by Sydney-based entrepreneurs Troy Douglas and Drew Bilbe and prides itself on the country’s first naturally sugar free soft drinks. Read more here.
Radio network bolsters content with editor role
In what it's calling a commercial radio first, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has appointed a national digital news editor. The move, spearheaded by SCA’s chief creative officer Guy Dobson, is part of SCA's content push as it looks to bolster how news is spread on air and online. The newly created role is filled by Sarah Michael, who was previously deputy editor of the Daily Mail Australia. Michael will be responsible for creating a digital news strategy and workflow for SCA’s metro newsrooms around Australia, as well as identifying the tools needed “to become market leaders in the digital news space”. Find out more here.
Pandora pumps up programmatic
Music platform Pandora has appointed Alison Pavy into the newly created role of programmatic sales director. Pavy was previously a senior sales executive at the business and has held senior sales roles with MI9 and Microsoft in Australia and the UK. In her new role she will oversee the growth of Pandora’s programmatic offering as the music streaming company extends its presence and product portfolio. Her new boss, Pandora commercial director ANZ Chris Freel, says it's a pivotal role that will supercharge its programmatic offering through 2017. More here.
Xaxis co-founder appointed as global Sizmek CEO
Neil Nguyen is leaving his position of CEO and president of Sizmek having spent 13 years in he company. As a result, Dr. Mark Grether has been appointed as executive chairman by Sizmek's board of directors. Grether previously worked as co-founder and global chief operating officer of WPP's Xaxis where he liaised with a variety of large brands across industry verticals including automotive, retail and CPG. Prior to this, Grether held the position of global development director of GroupM. Read more here.
New hires for content agency Edge
Creative content agency Edge has hired several new people. Victor Marx joins Edge’s strategy and media team from Marcel in Sydney where he was planning director. Before this he was group strategy director for Saatchi & Saatchi in Brazil. He is joined by Christy Chieng, a new junior analyst. Vivek Thakkar joins Edge as account manager, he previously worked at Marc Edward Agency and Clemenger BBDO. Edge has also brought in project managers Sophia Delimihalis from Contented, and Danith Thai from Katalyst. Jillian Lewis has been hired as a senior editor from Bauer Media and Matilda Duffecy joins as an editor from News Ltd. Annabelle Warwick joins Edge as senior travel editor. Jake Ward has also joined Edge as film editor and motions graphics designer. More here.
Ex-REA media exec joins IAB
After leaving his head of media strategy and operations role at REA, Jonas Jaanimagi has resurfaced as executive consultant at the IAB. Jaanimagi, who has more than 18 year’s of digital experience working in the UK and Australia, will provide support for the IAB Technology Council and working groups, as well as driving initiatives including the Ad Portfolio update. CEO of IAB Australia, Vijay Solanki, says Jaanimagi is “a godfather in the world of advertising technology” and that his understanding of the digital ecosystem will be critical in the key projects it has lined up for him.
See: Jonas Jaanimagi exits REA amid programmatic restructure.
AppNexus' Dave Osborn returns to US
Well-known ad tech veteran and VP sales APAC at AppNexus, Dave Osborn, will return to the US. Osborn, who has spoken at many industry events Down Under, has been based in Sydney for more than three years. He will remain at AppNexus and AdNews understands he will still be helping with elements of the Australian business. Osborn, who previously worked at Nielsen, oversees sales, service and operations across AppNexus in Australia and New Zealand. Read more here.
IPG's Ansible hires mobile marketing lead
Mobile marketing-services and technology company Ansible has appointed Ara Ko to head mobile marketing as the agency’s launches new mobile campaign measurement technology to enhance the effectiveness of clients’ campaigns. Ko is relocating from New York to Sydney for the new position and has most recently been vice president, group partner at UM New York, heading up the US H&M and Coca-Cola accounts. She has been with IPG Mediabrands for almost 10 years and previously held planning and account leadership roles at UM in Sydney and New York. Read more here.
Seven West Media board member Sheila McGregor resigns
Seven West Media board member Sheila McGregor has resigned from her post the day before an investigation that cleared Seven CEO Tim Worner of misconduct was made public. McGregor, a partner at law firm Gilbert + Tobin, is believed to be one of the driving forces behind an independent probe into allegations of misconduct by Worner during and after an affair he had with ex-employee Amber Harrison between 2012 and 2014. Fairfax Media reported that McGregor and fellow female board member Michelle Deaker had asked for a completed report to be sent to them directly rather than relayed via proxy. Find out more here.
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