Wade James, the well known national head of agency sales at oOh!media, is leaving the outdoor media specialist as Chris Freel, the CEO of social purpose organisation UnLtd, arrives.
The move is part of a sales consolidation that brings agency, direct, boutique and independent (DBI) teams under single leadership.
Freel comes to a newly created position of group sales director reporting to Paul Sigaloff, chief revenue and growth officer.
He will lead the combined team when he joins oOh! on February 12.
James is moving on from oOh! to pursue other opportunities.
“I want to thank Wade for his time at oOh! and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," says Sigaloff.
Sigaloff says uniting agency and DBI sales teams will strengthen oOh!'s proposition in the market.
"This will streamline our operations and ensure that we continue to deliver an optimal experience for advertising and agency partners, enabling them to leverage oOh!’s national network to make brands unmissable," he says.
Freel, a former national agency sales director at Fairfax Media and commercial director of Pandora, says he's excited to be joining a talented group of people at oOh!
"It’s an exciting time for the industry as we embrace digital transformation and advanced measurement capabilities and I look forward to working together with the team and our advertising partners as we navigate through this change," he says.
Sigaloff, who was appointed last year from Yahoo, says Freel has an extensive background in building high performing sales teams in competitive media sectors.
"His transformative leadership style brings infectious energy and a rare ability to build momentum, fostering strong and influential working relationships at all levels," Sigaloff says.
"Chris is well positioned to ensure oOh! continues to capitalise on its dominant market position and lead our new premium Sydney network, including Sydney Metro, the Metro Martin Place shopping precinct and Woollahra Council, all of which are set to go live this year. I welcome him to oOh!.”
Tim Elder, head of sales – DBI, continues in his role and will also work on special projects within the revenue and growth team.
Analysts have a positive outlook for the Australia out-of-home media market, with the sector expected to keep gaining share of overall advertising spend.
oOh!Media is due to release full year results next month. The latest numbers, for the half year to June, show a 7% jump in revenue to $296.6 million as the company rides a surging outdoor media sector.
Statutory net profit after tax was up 6% to $6.4 million. A fully franked interim dividend of 1.75 cents a share, an increase of 17%, was declared.
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