Rocklive appoints former Jetstar CEO
Former Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan has been appointed CEO of digital ad platform Rocklive. The company was set up in 2010 by former Google senior exec Justin Viles and ex-Adconion sales director Ben Voltz. They serve ads on Ebay, NineMSN, Ticketek and Webjet.
The announcement:
Rocklive, Australia’s innovative new leader in digital advertising solutions, has announced the appointment of former Group Chief Executive Officer of Jetstar, Bruce Buchanan, as its Chief Executive Officer.
Rocklive is a rapidly growing digital advertising business founded in 2010 by ex- Google senior executive Justin Viles and ex-Adconion Sales Director, Ben Voltz.
Rocklive provides unique and cutting edge solutions for advertisers and publishers, via a suite of ground-breaking products that turn passive into active advertising. This enables our partners to solve a key problem in the digital world – generating a strong revenue stream – and advertisers a platform to more effectively engage and attract customers.
Buchanan, the veteran entrepreneur who built the Jetstar franchise across Asia, stepped down from the CEO role in July in search of a new adventure. After hunting in the Asia-Pacific region for outstanding businesses opportunities across all categories, and considering offers from businesses ranging from top 100 to teams with start-up ideas in early formation Buchanan selected Rocklive, saying it stood out head and shoulders above the rest, inspiring him to join in the fulltime role of CEO as well as personally investing into the business to become an equal shareholder with the two founders:
“I was very impressed by the calibre of many Australian businesses that had aspirations to expand offshore, but when I had my first discussion with Rocklive I immediately knew they had all the ingredients to go global, and quickly, in a category worth $100 Billion. Rocklive is exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for, one that keeps you up all night excited about the future.”
“Rocklive has developed an entirely new platform for digital business – it improves revenue performance for publishers by up to 10 fold and connects advertisers to new customers. Ebay, NineMSN, Ticketek and Webjet are all believers and partners already. Rocklive has a very bright future and I’m honoured to join the team.”
“In 2012 the global digital marketplace was $100 Billion and it is expected to double in the next 5 years. The innovative Rocklive technology platform and the extraordinary talent in the team, combined with what has already been achieved in a very short time, provides a unique opportunity for us to dominate the space and we plan to do just that.”Rocklive Director of Innovation, Justin Viles said, “We have known we were onto something unique and powerful for sometime, however we were looking for how to best take the business to the next level. We considered opening ourselves up for investment and interviewed many experienced senior executives for potential active or board/advisory roles. When we met with Bruce Buchanan we knew we’d found the right person for our team and our future. His global experience, his entrepreneurial spirit and his incredible passion and proven track-record for success will be powerful attributes for Rocklive. We can’t wait to get started.”
Rocklive Sales Director, Ben Voltz said, “There isn’t much about Bruce that his history doesn’t say for him – being responsible for the successful development of the Jetstar business across Asia-Pacific – a 7000 staff and more than $3Billion dollar revenue business in 16 countries, a man respected in business and government through-out the region for his commitment, drive and honesty. We are thrilled to have him on board.”
Source: Rocklive press release
