Fairfax Media buys Australian Openair Cinemas
Fairfax Media’s Life Media and Events division has purchased Australian Openair Cinemas, a business operating open air cinemas in six Australian states and territories.
Australian Openair Cinemas, with Ben & Jerry’s as naming rights partner, was originally established at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in 2003 and has since expanded to operate in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and this year for the first time at the Gold Coast.
Managing director of Fairfax Life Media and Events, Andrew McEvoy, said: “Fairfax is very pleased to have done this deal with Australian Openair Cinemas. Our plan is to build on the remarkable success the events have had to date, further improving the experience and finding new Australian and international sites to grow the events. We genuinely believe in the experience economy and Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas perfectly complements our other events in areas such as food, health and fitness, parenting, sports and the arts.”
Fairfax noted that commercial terms of the transaction are confidential.
Brett Clegg among News Corp Australia senior exec appointments
News Corp Australia has both added to and shuffled its pack with three high-level announcements.
Current NSW executive general manager Brett Clegg has been appointed to managing director of community publishing, a newly created position. Clegg will be responsible for the rolling out of NewsXtend, a digital marketing product, in addition to digital and print initiatives and the overhauling of the community's classified business and advertising call centres.
“Brett's appointment is clear recognition of the importance of the community titles to our business overall and will bring new focus and commitment to the development of their future direction," said News Corps Australia CEO Peter Tonagh.
Stepping into his shoes will be strategic projects general manager Simon Anderson. Anderson will be tasked with driving the commercial performance of the Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title.
Finally, 35-year News Corp Australia veteran John Webster will return to the firm in the Tasmanian general manager role. He will be responsible for the state's publications, including the Mercury titles, the Sunday Tasmanian, Tasmanian Country, and the Gazette.
Buzz in the Boardroom heads for Fortitude Valley
The ADMA 30Below Committee is hard at work organising Queensland's Buzz in the Boardroom 'speed networking' event, at which young marketers get to grill marketing leaders from big firms about their careers.
Following previous events in Melbourne and Sydney, this one will be held on Wednesday 14 October at Cloudland, in Fortitude Valley.
Facing the questions will be Vanessa Brennan, MD of Clemenger BBBDO, Laura Campbell, CIO, Allianz, Mark James, CEO at GJI, Renee Davidson, RACQ's head of marketing, Bill McNamara, Marketing Decisions CEO, and Simon Hambleton, brand manager at Queen Fine Foods.
Full details can be found on the 30Below website.
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