Former Starcom trading boss Andrew Taylor joins NZME
Starcom’s former national trading director, Andrew Taylor, will join New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) as trading director.
Taylor left Starcom Mediavest after two years last year, and has since been looking for new opportunities.
Taylor left Starcom Mediavest last year
Prior to joining Starcom, Taylor spent three years as trading director for OMD New Zealand. He also previously worked as trading director for Aegis Media in the UK.
Taylor is part of a number of new appointments for NZME, which is currently appealing a High Court decision which ruled against to proposed merger with Fairfax Media’s Stuff NZ. At the same time, the company has appointed Margaret Hawker as agency lead and Hayley Braisby as Auckland team lead.
Paul Hancox, head of revenue, said he was delighted to have the three recruits join the business.
“They have very strong media backgrounds and are well regarded across the industry. We have also taken this opportunity to look at how we become a more agile senior team and align our talent more closely to their strengths by vertical,” Hancox said.
Matt Headland, chief commercial officer for NZME, said the new roles reflect the business’ commercial strategy.
“With the ever-changing media landscape, it is imperative our commercial team reflects the market. These new roles will allow the team to work more dynamically across NZME’s platforms to deliver the best possible integrated campaigns for our clients,” Headland said.
Taylor said he was excited to get started:” I have been a long standing admirer of NZME and their multi-platform delivery assets. As content creators and story tellers they are a leading NZ media brand with exciting opportunities.
“It was an easy decision for me, I can’t wait to return home, get started and join the team.”
Taylor commences his role on October 15.
Three weeks ago, NZME reported an after tax profit of $3.7m for the first half, a 53% year on year fall. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 18% to $23.2m with revenue down 3% to $185.7m. NZME is set to introduce a freemium model in this half.
