News review September 2013
Clarke unwinds Kim
News Corp CEO Julian Clarke unveils the new structure for the business, unwinding the centralisation plans put in place by predecessor Kim Williams. Instead Clarke returns the operation to a state-based model.
Yahoo!7 goes it alone for exchange
Yahoo!7 pulls out of talks with other publishers to form an ad exchange, instead announcing its own offering will be live in the coming months. Later in the month Yahoo!7 will close its search marketing business and announce a partnership with rival Google to power its search engine.
Twitter lands
The anticipated launch of Twitter in Australia finally happens, with Google’s head of mobile and social solutions in APAC Karen Stocks named as MD. Later in the month the tech giant announces it will float on the stock market.
Melhuish pockets huge pay packet
CEO Matthew Melhuish is revealed to be earning $939,000 two weeks after revelations holding company Enero had seen operating profits fall by $10m to just $3.5m, as agencies including Naked, BMF and Frank PR struggled in a sluggish market.
Bruhn toasts global role
Diageo’s top marketer in Australia Matt Bruhn lands a global role leading the marketing for Smirnoff, based in New York.
Liberals and Clive blitz ad spend
Figures show the Liberal Party was by far the biggest spender during the election with 75 per cent of spend in the final two weeks of the campaign, while Clive Palmer’s push for the Senate cost him $2m.
Whybins Effies win
A stellar 18-months for Whybin\TBWA is capped off with the Grand Prix at the Effies for its NRMA Car Insurance campaign, as Clemenger BBDO Sydney takes away the most gold trophies for its work with Hungry Jack’s.
Vodafone relaunches
After two years of apologetic ads, telco Vodafone announces a rebrand launching a new ad campaign aimed at appealing to the inner child of its customers, superimposing children’s heads on adult bodies.
Eales slides up News
Former Westpac and John Lewis marketing head Damian Eales is promoted to the top marketing role in News Corp after joining the company in February, as Corin Dimopoulos departs.
Buzzfeed gets Aussie editor
Simon Crerar, the visual story editor for News Corp, is named the editor of the new Aussie office of Buzzfeed, tasked with bringing more local content to the site.
L’Oreal gets Ryan ahead
Simon Ryan is named the new CEO of Carat Australasia and wins the L’Oreal account from UM just two-weeks later.
News Corp drops $350m from Aussie papers
End of year figures from News Corp reveal its Australian newspaper assets dropped $350m of revenue, nearly three times the drop suffered by rival publisher Fairfax.
Woolies names new marketing boss
Jess Gill is named as the new marketing boss for supermarket Woolworths, taking over from Lizzy Ryley, who moves to head of customer loyalty for the brand and appears on Ten’s Recipe To Riches.
Ferrier leaves Naked as new Sydney boss in place
The last co-founder of Naked Australia, Adam Ferrier, leaves the agency and is replaced by former BWM Melbourne boss Carl Ratcliff. It also emerges that global CEO Richard Dunmall had departed in July, with global heads reporting into Matthew Melhuish.
Mott returns in Perth
Former Ten programming boss David Mott returns to television to lead Nine’s new Perth venture as the network looks to establish a national footprint.
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