Former Yahoo7 boss Ed Harrison to lead Isentia
Media monitoring and intelligence company Isentia has appointed former Yahoo7 chief Ed Harrison as CEO, filling the position left vacant after long-standing boss John Croll stepped down last February.
Harrison, who left Yahoo7 after partners Seven and Oath wound up their 12 year joint venture in March, will earn a $676,000 annual salary when he joins the company on August 6.
Before joining Yahoo7 in 2014, Harrison was Fairfax Media’s group sales director. At the time of his joining the then Seven-Yahoo joint venture, Fairfax launched unsuccessful legal action to prevent him taking the role. Harrison arrived in Australia in 2001 to set up JC Decaux’s business in Victoria and South Australia. Between 2003 to 2008, he was the company’s national general manager.
Harrison has taken on a challenging role at Isentia as the company struggles with a floundering share price and recovers from its written off $48m investment in King Content.
The company, formerly Media Monitors, listed in 2014 at $2.04 per share. At the time of its listing, it had over 80% of the Australian media monitoring market, but in recent times has come under pressure from new entrants in the marketplace, most notably San Francisco based startup Meltwater which Isentia sued in mid 2017. The case was later dropped.
“I am delighted to be joining an iconic company like Isentia, which is widely known as the leading provider of media intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region,” Harrison said in a media statement.
“Like many organisations, Isentia is facing a number of challenges associated with the rapidly changing media landscape. I look forward to working with the team to drive an innovation, digital and product focused growth agenda.”
Isentia chairman Doug Snedden added: ““Ed has deep knowledge of traditional and digital media and has executed disciplined growth strategies in organisations across a range of competitive markets. He has broad expertise in leading product development and technology-based innovation to meet diverse customer needs in disrupted media environments, and understands the fundamental importance of client relationships.”
Along with Harrison’s appointment, the company also announced CFO James Orlando will be stepping down. Orlando took the role after Nimesh Shah stepped down in March last year.
“James has made a significant contribution to Isentia over the past year which has been beyond that of a traditional CFO,” said Snedden.”He has implemented processes that have enhanced transparency around the key drivers of the business and initiated a cost out program which is the first step in the transformation of our fixed cost base. The Board would like to thank James for his considerable efforts, commitment and ongoing support as Ed settles into his new role.”
Why do you find it necessary to publish his salary? If anyone is that keen to know then they can find the information for themselves .
You’re becoming more and more like the Daily Mail with every story you publish. Why don’t you find out the value of his house too ?
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It will be public knowledge anyway because it’s publicly traded most likely. Also no way was 7 and Yahoo together for 20 years. (Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy). Good luck though.
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Agree with the above comment. You did it with the new Domain CEO this week as well. It is no one’s business.
Why don’t you focus the articles on what the new CEO brings to the business and how it could be improved/changed with this new hire.
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@Twunts
Ever read newspapers like The Fin, or business sections of The Oz? They often (perhaps even always) include compensation info when they talk about either incoming CEOs or board members in articles.
Mumbrella wouldn’t need to publish whole articles related to remuneration of individuals as it relates to financial performance of companies – because it’s not related to their core focus. (And indeed, I don’t think they do publish those type of stories.)
But giving a broader context – yes, including CEO salaries – beyond just the stuff that immediately impacts agency or media owners’ day to day jobs, is useful for all.
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I’ve corrected the 20 year mention, Jo. The JV actually started in 2006. Yahoo entered the Aussie market as a stand alone service in 1997.
Paul Wallbank
News Editor
And for those above with issues re salary mention – don’t visit the homepage of AdNews today. They’ve got Ed’s salary in the summary part of the story on the homepage too.
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(Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy)
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If I believed for one second that Mumbrellas reason for declaring it was the same as the Aus or Fin then yes I’d understand .
It’s not. It’s there to drive clicks and comments (yes I understand the irony)
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Well done Ed, great thinker, fantastic leader, and will do well. Great work, both parties!!
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Unsure if the commenter worked at Y7 during Ed’s time but during my year there he showed great dignity whilst doing an essentiallyimpossible job of keeping his various board members happy, despite their conflicting desires which Jo alludes to.
Good luck to him, he deserves it.
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Hi Twunts,
The information about salary was included in the ASX announcement about the appointment.
On the one hand, one of the benefits of working for a large publicly listed company is they can offer very competitive salaries.
But with that, comes transparency over the remuneration of the top executives, which must be made publicly available to the market.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Hi Media Pineapple,
You’re correct that we also included the detail in our Domain coverage.
You’re incorrect that it’s nobody’s business.
Domain is a publicly traded company, not a private business. So it’s legally obliged to disclose that number, as is Isentia.
And thanks for the advice on how to cover the Isentia story. You will, I suspect, be aware that Mumbrella has written more about Isentia than perhaps any other publication in recent years.
Today’s story was to cover the significant announcement of the fact of who the new CEO will be.
And yes, I’m sure we’ll be writing more on the topics you suggest.
Plus, you’re welcome to start the ball rolling. What do you think the new CEO brings to the business, and how do you think the product could be improved? You haven’t actually mentioned it
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella