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Mamamia plots international growth after picking up Marc Barnett as chief operating officer

MarcOnline publisher Mamamia has hired former senior Mi9 executive Marc Barnett to help run its operations, Mumbrella can reveal.

Barnett has been appointed chief operating officer of the Mamamia Women’s Network (MWN), which includes online properties Mamamia, iVillage Australia and The Glow. He told Mumbrella his purview would include helping develop plans to grow the company’s international reach.

“Mamamia is one of the major success stories within the Australian industry and I am really excited to help grow the business into a major international player in this space,” said Barnett.

He was previously Mi9’s commercial director and then COO of the Nine Entertainment digital operation before resigning in November. 

CEO and Co-founder of Mamamia Jason Lavigne said Barnett’s appointment was important to the evolution of their publishing business

“This is a major hire for MWN and in Marc we believe we have found a market leading senior executive who has a track record of innovation within the digital media space, and creatively delivering exceptional results.” said Lavigne.

Barnett played a key role in driving the growth of programmatic media buying at Mi9 and also was central to the launch of Australia’s first premium mobile ad exchange APEX, which launched in November, serving as its launch chairman.

“I’ve been looking for a business truly committed to growth and technology enabled innovation. In MWN, I believe I have found a smart and progressive thinking group of people, who have an unrivalled appetite for delivering excellence to their loyal and valuable audience and advertisers,” Barnett said.

“I have enormous respect for the existing senior management team, and can’t wait to contribute to growing the business in Australia and offshore”.

The announcement comes 6 months after MWN appointed Kylie Rogers to the role of national sales director.

Nic Christensen 

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