Mike Morrison appointed as Ten’s new sales boss after brief stint at Sapient Nitro
Ten’s new CEO James Warburton has made his first big move, appointing Mike Morrison into the new role of chief sales officer.
Morrison was only appointed chief strategy officer of agency Sapient Nitro in August. He is the second person to leave the agency for a big TV network job. Former boss Michael Branagh now runs Powered, the multi-platform sales offering of the Nine Entertainment Co.
According to the announcement, the new role will see national sales boss Kylie Rogers reporting in to Morrison.
Google's cached version of Morrison's LinkedIn profile
Prior to the brief Sapient Nitro appointment, Morrison led strategy at George Patterson, then Y&R Brands. Earlier in his career he was an account director at Clemenger BBDO. In the last few hours Morrison has deleted his short spell at Sapient Nitro from his LinkedIn profile.
Warbuton said in a statement: “Mike’s appointment signals a major change in the creative renewal of our sales approach. He has a brilliant reputation for pitching, an exceptional knowledge of brands, and is a creative thinker who is very client centric.
“Mike is a key appointment. He is a fierce competitor and we need that sort of attitude to enable Ten to compete more effectively in a challenging market.”
In the same announcement, Morrison said: “I’m delighted with this new role, and to be joining James at Ten. It will be a great challenge but I’m sure it will also be very rewarding.
“I’m also thrilled to be working with Kylie Rogers as part of my team, continuing her role as National Sales Manager, solidifying our sales force for 2012.”
Morrison starts on Monday. Warburton took the helm of Ten at the start of the month.
Good one Mike!
Well done mate.
Seriously is there a CEO out there that is capable of joining a new company WITHOUT bringing in a cabal on newly appointed mates, hangers on, suck-arses, into newly created “chief xxx / head of xxx” roles? No offence to Mike but James – do us a favour and give the existing staff a chance to impress you first. Six days in and an announcement made on a new man sitting on top of everyone is a brilliant way to demotivate the existing sales team. If you think Kylie is a good operator, this isnt a good way to start off the relationship. If you think Kylie is not, then why not just replace her.. I dont get this at all
Great move James, well done.
i saw this guy present at the ninemsn DMS in 2007 and he was pretty entertaining.
Well done Mr T.
Hey KK, its more likely that all feedback that James has is that Kylie Rogers has not been performing to the level required in that role, and that rather than let her go, she has a chance to prove herself for 6 months. A new CEO doesn’t have the luxury of 6 months for someone to prove what he has already been told by pretty much everyone he asks.
Should you guys really be giving kylie a performance review right here?
I wonder how you would feel if your role or capability was sufficient for you to be discussed like this.
Seriously. There are real people involved here.
Well, Mike Morrisson excepted.
Mike’s a smart guy, and will no doubt do well. He’s got a way with words that he’ll need in the new role.
I remember being in a meeting where he was presenting with his team from George Patts to News Interactive and he enthusiastically described some new branding idea as being “like Kryptonite to Superman”. At which someone from News piped up and said “Err, didn’t Kryptonite kill Superman?”
Without missing a beat, Mike says “Exactly! Superman needed Kryptonite to show just how powerful he was …” (Or something to that effect)
Anyway, he’s a heck of a salesman.
Dave, welcome to the world of anonymous forums!
Mike, best of luck in the new role mate
Mike has the gift of the gab – in fact I don’t think I have seen a more compelling presenter.
He won a heck of a lot of business for Y&R – listening to a Mike Morrison prezo is full on – he could have atheists lifting their arms in the air and yelling Hallelujah.
And its good to see someone who has publicly acknowledged their depression, as Mike has, coming back from it.
James Warburton is also that rare thing – a boss who is not a prick…
Good on both of them.
Very exciting news indeed. After a long spell of absence from the sales/ad world, Morrison well deserves this new role.
An exceptional speaker and lateral thinker, I would only warn his colleagues to be prepared to be stretched and challenged with their thinking and deadlines.
And watch out for Lord T. And I’m not talking about his range rover…:-)
Reading between the lines, It’s difficult to know what to make of all this. Just as it’s difficult for a freelance copywriter with 16 years’ experience (see Linked In) to get some work this week.
Great move mate. Well done
Geoff W
Nicely done, Lord T.