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Uber Advertising launches locally, led by ex-LinkedIn exec Michael Levine

Uber has gone to market in Australia and New Zealand with Uber Advertising, marking the company’s first sales division to be launched outside of the United States.

The advertising division setup will be led by LinkedIn veteran Michael Levine, who has spent the past decade at the company, moving back to Australia last year to take on the role of head of enterprise, marketing solutions, Australia.

Levine will lead the launch of Uber Advertising in the ANZ region

Uber said Levine’s is the first leadership position outside of the US, and he will be responsible for the launch of Uber’s advertising services across both Australian and New Zealand markets. As head of Uber Advertising Sales ANZ, he will build a local sales team “to develop relationships across core restaurant partners within the Uber Eats app, as well as help brands in ANZ access new advertising opportunities across Uber’s mobility business as they launch”.

Drew Mitchell, global head of ad sales at Uber Advertising said: “ANZ is one of the world’s most creative and dynamic advertising markets, and we are excited to be launching Uber’s suite of advanced advertising services to brands in the region. We could not think of a better leader than Michael to step into this pivotal role. His local and international experience, coupled with his deep relationship with brands and agencies will help ANZ brands lead the world by using Uber’s unique and fast-growing advertising network.”

Levine continued: “I’m delighted to be joining Uber as a foundational member of the global advertising sales business, and at such an important time in the company’s journey. With millions of users across the region, Uber Advertising has a huge opportunity to help brands connect with a variety of target audiences. The business is perfectly placed to provide marketers with first-party targeting across location and shopping data, with closed loop attribution, and at significant scale.

“Building on the foundations of the already strong advertising offering across Uber Eats, I’m excited to also be setting up a team that will help launch new offerings across digital and out of home formats for both the delivery and mobility a to further support advertisers’ performance and branding campaigns.”

Levine held roles at NineMSN and The Guardian UK prior to joining LinkedIn.

Uber said that Levine will also support the global advertising leadership team. The first advertising offering of sponsored listings hit the Uber Eats app in the US in 2019, with out-of-home advertising and in-app advertising launching to the wider marketing in 2021.

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