Marketforce names former IAB CEO Alice Manners as chief digital officer
Three months after leaving the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), former CEO Alice Manners has joined Perth agency Marketforce as chief digital officer.
Manners headed the IAB for three years before stepping down in May and was credited with growing the membership of the organisation from its foundation Big Four publisher members.
She also oversaw the creation of a number of industry councils, including on IAB-MFA advisory agency group, ad tech advisory council, video council, audio council and brand safety council.
Marketforce CEO John Driscoll
Marketforce CEO, John Driscoll, said that the decision to create the role of chief digital officer reflect the changing needs of the agency and its clients.
“(The) maturing of Marketforce’s approach to its digital offering, and (is) in line with a worldwide trend to provide a seamless integration of traditional and digital media planning, with strategic and consumer planning – all linked with campaign based creative solutions,” said Driscoll.
“Clients today are faced with a barrage of marketing choices and often conflicting information provided from a multitude of sources. Our role as an agency must be to make sense of those choices, using well-grounded research, data analytics and consumer media consumption habits to provide simple, fact-based single source solutions for our clients.”
Prior to joining the IAB, Manners had worked in senior roles in a number of WPP agencies. She said she was looking forward to moving to a role back within an agency and working with clients.
“As we move forward the creative application of technology to solve problems is vital but at the same time we can’t forget the importance of human touch,” Manners said.
“Marketforce presents an exciting opportunity for me to combine my most recent experience at the IAB with my comprehensive agency credentials to address the evolving needs of today’s marketer.”
After Manners’ departure the IAB announced former Southern Cross Austereo chief digital officer Vijay Solanki would assume the role, kicking off with a national listening tour designed to take the pulse of the industry.
