Fairfax’s Andrew McEvoy hire is a statement of intent about its events play. But will it work?
As it struggles to find new revenue models, Fairfax is getting serious about developing an events business, but Andrew McEvoy faces a tough task, argues Mumbrella’s Tim Burrowes
Yesterday Fairfax Media made a big move, hiring Andrew McEvoy, the boss of Tourism Australia, to lead its events division.
And like many big moves, it’s a hard call on how this one will go.
There’s plenty of fuel for cynics to talk about why it won’t work, and a lot of ammo for those that see it as making sense.
One does not need to be cynical to notice that events are largely niche business. They don’t make much money and in media usually are value add in the inventory. The market is highly contestable. etc etc. So it is totally fair to ask whether this is any sort of significant prospect for Fairfax.
Fairfax, on the other hand, has been centralising and generally undoing niche potential. Especially in its big brand businesses.
It;s a queer appointment and I reckon Hywood will have created a problem among his shareholders if this is his answer to the future. Because it obviously isn’t.
By the way, TA has Sandra McPhee on its board – as does Fairfax – so there might be more going on than meets the eye.
@Numbers Man
I was thinking you were barking up the wrong tree until I read Hywood’s knee-jerk in the AFR today. Not only is lashing the porker with lippy, he actually said poor McEvoy was a “rainmaker”. Kiss of death. The last of these promoted by Hywood was Catalano. And then there was Clegg.
I reckon they’re expecting a real basting at the shareholder meeting and are trying real hard to fluff it up.
Andrew is a good operator. IMO the best Tourism Australia MD that I have had to deal with in the last decade or so………
The problem I see here is that he has spent his entire career spending money. Now he has to make make sales. Lots of sales. Lots and lots of sales.
Too many marketers fall over at that hurdle when moving into a broader role……
Time will tell, but I wish him all the best. As long as Fairfax doesn’t eat his soul and spit him out……