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.
News Corp talent returns
News Corp Australia has appointed Luke Manderson to the newly-created role of chief product officer. Manderson returns to the publisher after a five-year stint in New York, previously working at Barron’s Group where he was chief product and technology officer. He will lead News Corp Australia’s digital product and data strategy as the company adopts a digital-first strategy. Manderson first joined News Corp Australia from Foxtel in 2012 as product, sales and strategy director for news.com.au. In 2015 he relocated to New York, joining News Corp’s global headquarters as VP product management.
Publicis content boss departs
Patrick Whitnall, managing director of Publicis content, has departed the business after five months in his latest role and 15 years at Publicis Groupe. Whitnall, who oversaw Publicis Sport and Entertainment as part of his role, has worked across Sydney and London during his time with Publicis, including at agencies Mindshare and Starcom.
Tiktok grows local team
Video-sharing app TikTok has expanded its newly-launched Australia team with the appointment of Ollie Wards as its first director of music for Australia and New Zealand. Wards, who joins after 10 years at Triple J, will drive the music strategy for the platform locally, overseeing emerging and established artists and their role within TikTok's creator community. He will also be responsible for building partnerships with local artists, talent managers, record labels and distributors to execute successful campaigns and build music careers, across Australia and New Zealand.
Facebook global CMO steps down
Facebook’s global chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio is stepping down after two years in the role. Lucio, who joined the social media company in 2018 from HP, is departing to spend time helping advertising and marketing agencies on improving their diversity and inclusion.
Goa adds new members
Goa Billboards has appointed Dan McConochie as national sales director and Shae Bonney as NSW sales director. The Queensland-based out-of-home company says despite the sector taking a hit due to COVID-19, it’s seeing new opportunities emerge and that its balance sheet is “strong”. Both roles will be Sydney-based.
Bastion Brands expands
Australian healthcare communications specialist Bastion Brands has added seven staff to its Sydney and Melbourne teams to help meet growing demand from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. Ana Vulinovich joins as account director from London where she was an account handler at leading healthcare communications agencies CDM London and Hive Health. Dr Sue Cripps joins as senior medical consultant. She has more than 25 years' experience in medical communications and has led medical writing teams at several leading healthcare communication agencies. Laura Butters joins as account manager after almost three years working in the UK with Cello Health Communications and more recently at Think HQ. Kate Wilson and Adam Hall both join as senior medical writers, Donna Bartlett joins as medical education and strategy development and Kristina Djikanovic joins as account executive.
Advertising execs launch agency
Award-winning executive creative director Simon Jarosz and business strategist Jen Peace have launched We Are Otter, a strategy, creative and production collaboration designed to help clients and agencies. We Are Otter, which will provide an end-to-end service, is designed to be nimble with bespoke teams to match marketing needs as and when required. Jarosz has more than 20 years’ experience working in advertising and design. He was most recently executive creative director at digital agency SLIK after more than three years as national creative director at Mediacom. Peace is the former managing director at Enigma Communications. She also worked as head of brand at Bankwest for more than three years and has held senior roles at agencies including TBWA Sydney and London, Clemenger BBDO Sydney and Ogilvy & Mather.
Take 2 Media appoints editor
Take 2 Media has appointed Vivienne Kelly as editor of The Music Network and Radio Today. Kelly, previously editor of media and marketing title Mumbrella, replaces Jake Challenor, who remains Take 2 Media’s publisher and content director. Kelly began her career as a reporter with Momentum Media, before spending almost four years at Mumbrella.
TikTok US CEO steps down
Kevin Mayer, TikTok US CEO, is resigning from his role after just over 100 days. The former Disney executive departs as the company comes under increased pressure from the US government over its ties to China. The app, owned by ByteDance, has until mid-November to divest, otherwise face a ban in the region. According to US reports, Mayer told staff that the political environment had sharply changed in recent weeks and the role of CEO at the hugely popular short-video app would be altered significantly after the expected sale of TikTok’s U.S. business.
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