Seven West Media appoints senior Yahoo sales exec; touts gender diversity
Following Paul Sigaloff’s appointment at oOh Media, Seven West Media has become the second media company to bolster its sales division with talent from Yahoo, filling the role left vacant by Nicole Bence last year.
General manager for sales across Australia and New Zealand, Rachel Page has been appointed as national digital sales director at Seven West Media, reporting directly to chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette.
Rachel Page joins Seven West Media’s sales leadership team
Both departures follow reports in February of cuts across Yahoo globally, as the company looked to narrow its focus, in turn cutting the majority of its local commercial team.
Burnette took the opportunity to tout the company’s gender split, as he stated it currently sits at 50/50 across the entirety of Seven West Media, with 52% of leadership positions held by women.
“Last year, we became the first media company in Australia to be awarded the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation, recognising Seven West Media as an employer committed to achieving gender equality in the workplace.”
Despite this, 3 of the 12 executives on Seven West Media’s senior management team are women, with that figure being two out of eight of its board directors.
Page joined Yahoo in 2017 and has held roles including sales director and national sales director during this time. She has extensive sales experience across companies including Nine, Pandora, oOh Media and Network Ten during her career. She will join Seven in May.
Burnette said: “Rachel is a great addition to our management team. She is without doubt one of the very best commercial and digital leaders in media, with a proven track record of delivering incredible commercial results and a passion for industry collaboration and education.
“I’m excited for Rachel to join our dynamic team and play an integral part in the next phase of Seven’s digital transformation, as we move into a new strategic phase of total TV convergence and rapid growth in digital.
“Rachel’s appointment is another example of our commitment to ensuring equity across our business,” he said.
Burnette
The senior sales leadership team at Seven includes national sales director, Natalie Harvey, director of national trading and sales operations, Dave Walker, national regional sales director of local markets, Greg Gabel, as well as Burnett and now Page.
Page will lead the commercial digital innovation.
She said: “I am thrilled to join Seven at this pivotal moment in its digital transformation, as we move into a new phase of total TV convergence.
“Seven is the leading national total TV network in Australia and offers incredible opportunities for brands looking to reach Australia’s largest converged audience across metropolitan, regional and digital screens.
“I can’t wait to work with Seven’s talented and passionate sales team, its clients, agencies and the industry to drive digital growth across Seven’s digital assets, deliver results for our partners and ensure Seven remains at the forefront of the rapidly evolving media landscape,” she said.
Melissa Hopkins officially joined the company this week, after she was appointed as its chief marketing and audience officer in December, joining from Optus. One of the industry’s most recognisable marketers, she replaced Charlotte Valente, who left the company after three years.
Seven West Media delivered its first half year earnings for the 2023 financial year last month, with net profit after income tax, group revenue, and EBITDA all dropping compared to the same period last year.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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