Ooh Media’s Neil Ackland is departing, the outdoor company has announced, as part of a new structure which sees Mark Fairhurst confirmed as chief revenue officer, and Andrew Every expanding his responsibilities to chief strategy and retail media officer.
From left: Every, Fairhurst and O’Connor are saying goodbye to Ackland
Ackland was CEO and co-owner of youth publisher Junkee Media, which Ooh Media bought in 2016. Junkee Media was originally known as Sound Alliance, which Ackland joined in 2001.
Having bought Junkee Media on a $13m valuation, Ooh Media later sold it to Racat Group for $1.9m in 2021 although it retained the branded content and production arm, rebranding it as Poly.
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Ackland’s roles at Ooh Media included running Poly as chief content, marketing and creative officer and setting up the company’s new retail media offering Reo. Ackland was announced as chief retail media officer last month.
In today’s announcement, Ooh Media CEO Cathy O’Connor hinted that Ackland wants to run a business again. She said: “It’s bittersweet to announce Neil will be moving on from Ooh. An entrepreneurial and visionary leader, he’s been clear with me for some time now that his goal is to return to leading a company. As Ooh’s retail media division moves into a new phase of execution, we have agreed now is the right time for him to pursue his next professional chapter outside of Ooh.”
Ackland was quoted as saying: “When I sold Junkee Media to Ooh in 2016, I made a choice to immerse myself in a larger, listed, market-leading media business in one of the most exciting and fast-growing categories: Out of Home. I leave with immense pride in what we’ve accomplished and wish Cathy and the entire team continued success as they unlock the full potential of this extraordinary business.”
The restructure wraps up a bumpy few months for Ooh in which previous chief revenue and growth officer Paul Sigaloff was moved on after less than two years, after the company’s market share went backwards. Fairhurst was brought in to fill the gap; last month, Ooh Media told the market that revenues for the quarter were up 14% compared to the same time last year.
Yesterday, one of Sigaloff’s key appointments, group sales director Chris Freel, also announced his departure after just a year.
Fairhurst is an outdoor veteran whose previous roles have included JCDecaux, Eyecorp, APN Outdoor, and QMS. O’Connor said: “Mark has made a significant contribution since joining our business in an acting capacity, as evidenced by our strong Q1 revenue performance.”
Every, who joined Ooh Media from the NRL a year ago, will pick up Ackland’s retail media responsibilities running Reo. “This combined role is a natural progression for Andrew, given his strategy and execution expertise and strong connection to our retail media business,” said O’Connor. “Andrew has extensive experience in driving commercial partnerships forward, having held senior positions managing enterprise partnerships for both Telstra and the NRL.”