ACM expands agriculture sales division with new leadership appointments

Australian Community Media (ACM) has announced the appointment of three new sales leaders as a result of significant growth in its agricultural sales division.

The regional media publisher confirmed today Tom Zavecz will be the Agri Sales division’s national agency sales director, having previously held sales leadership roles at Motio, Shopper and Pacific Magazines. Sam Rohayem will join as the division’s national real estate sales manager, while Mark Simpson will assume the role of Queensland agricultural commercial manager.

ACM’s trade marketing manager, Sally Roscholler, told Mumbrella the appointments were made possible thanks to growth in the publisher’s digital and events marketplaces, as well as the launch of out-of-paddock – an out-of-home media platform for the agricultural sector.

“It’s a huge expansion and it’s showing that we’re investing heavily in our products so that we can help farmers get closer to the brands and the products that they need,” she said.

“By ensuring that we’re tapping into more audiences, we’re giving [our publications] more opportunities to connect with those audiences.”

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Roscholler added there was growth in readership “across multiple categories” with its Agri mastheads but would not be drawn on exact readership figures.

ACM’s Agri division publishes titles such as The Land, Queensland Country Life and Farm Online.

According to data collated for the company by Roy Morgan, the ACM Agri network has an extensive reach to farmers across the country, including 84% of Queensland farmers and 70% of NSW farmers every month. The company is also responsible for publishing other major regional newspapers – including The Canberra Times, The Newcastle Herald and The Illawarra Mercury – and has reported revenue “north of $200 million”, according to managing director Tony Kendall.

Simpson, who worked for News Corp Australia prior to joining ACM, said in a media release he was “thrilled to have joined [the company] at a time of unprecedented growth”.

Mark Simpson

“Our newly formed Queensland division is already making huge inroads with customers and is set to support the major industries in the region, including beef and horticulture,” he added.

Rohayem added: “I’m looking forward to applying my property experience to the Ags division and helping create leading solutions for agents. Our first-party property data, combined with our editorial team who truly live and breathe ag, makes us unstoppable.”

Roscholler hoped the expansion of the Agri Sales division will allow for increased dialogue between Australian farmers and external stakeholders like governments.

“We are the voice of Australian [agricultural workers], so we hang our hats very high on the fact that we go into bat for different agricultural issues,” she said.

“[This expansion] is giving a greater opportunity in terms of a platform to have a say, and a flow on effect from that is you get more people reading your products, which is more eyeballs for advertisers to connect with.”