Branded content platform Outbrain appoints Sigrid Kirk as head of Engage product
Kirk and Steiner
The former chief product officer at both News Corp Australia and Fairfax Media Sigrid Kirk has joined content discovery platform Outbrain as head of its Outbrain Engage product, Mumbrella can reveal.
Kirk joins the company following a year and a half consulting with publishers including Bauer Media. Previously she was the chief product officer for metro media with Fairfax from July 2012 to March last year and before that was the chief product officer for digital at News Corp from May 2010 until May 2012.
Ayal Steiner, Outbrain’s GM for Australia & New Zealand, told Mumbrella: “Sigrid joining is an interesting milestone. Publishers in this landscape that work with Outbrain all stand to benefit by having someone with her level of experience contributing to the discussions around what are the best ways to use Outbrain to engage audiences and to also capture the opportunity of content distribution and content marketing.”
Outbrain’s business model sees its technology placed on publisher websites, to direct users to other content on the site, or externally, which generates revenue for the publishing company from the brands who pay to have their content highlighted.
Kirk is based out of Outbrain’s Sydney office and will look after publishers across Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMA), reporting to Outbrain’s VP of global product marketing Matt Crenshaw.
“Sigrid will work closely with us on the Australian market but her remit is regional,” said Steiner.
Kirk said in a statement: “Having worked in publishing for many years, I’m a big believer in the power of great content, for publishers, brands and consumers. I also understand the importance and challenges around content distribution and amplification – the best content in the world has no value unless it is found and consumed, shared and acted upon. In an increasingly cluttered and fragmented media landscape, that challenge is only getting harder.
“Outbrain is singularly focused on solving that problem, and I’m really excited about the opportunity to work with some of the world’s best publishers and brands on helping them to get the right content, to the right people at the right time.”
The newly created role sees Kirk work with publishers in APAC and EEMEA in an effort to drive innovation and adoption of Outbrain’s publisher platform ‘Engage’ which is a tool that aims to give publishers more control over how content is managed across their properties.
As part of her new role, Kirk will also be responsible for driving innovation and new product releases across the region.
The appointment follows on from the company signing a three year partnership with The Guardian.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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Brilliant brilliant. Good on you Sigrid!
Ayal…. a great get.
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Brilliant move OutBrain, and Congrats Sigrid
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