Audible has announced it has appointed Ben Rolleston as its new country manager for Australia. Rolleston will oversee Audible’s Australian business and lead its brand & content marketing and customer lifecycle teams. He will also work closely with Audible’s content and customer acquisition leaders and teams to continue elevating Audible’s presence in Australian audio spoken-word entertainment.
For the past four years, Rolleston has held the position of head of Alexa skills and partnerships for Australia. He was key in helping brands, companies and content owners build a voice-first, personalized experience for Australian customers. Commencing Tuesday 26 April, he will report to Audible’s head of operations, APAC – Leanne Cartwright-Bradford.
“Ben is a seasoned business strategist with strong understanding of content and customers in Australia,” said Cartwright-Bradford. “His extensive background in driving business growth, while focusing on customers’ needs, complements Audible’s ongoing commitment to innovation in order to provide an amazing listening experience for our audiences.”
Rolleston said, “As a passionate content professional, I’ve been fascinated with the evolution of how customers engage with audio storytelling and have watched over time as Audible has created a new form of entertainment media with audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals. Having worked through enormous change in the way TV and video is commissioned and consumed, I’m excited to be a part of driving growth at Audible.”
Before joining Amazon, he served as vice president of commercial and content distribution at Viacom International Media Networks. As part of this position, Rolleston oversaw all commercial, content and product revenue, as well as content distribution, for storied global brands such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Rolleston began his career as a lawyer with HT&E, before commercial leadership roles with the Rugby Union Players Association, negotiating contract and commercial terms for the Wallabies, and for Singtel Optus in their digital content team.
This appointment comes off the back of Leanne Cartwright-Bradford being promoted to head of operations APAC, Audible last year. Prior to her current role, Cartwright-Bradford held the position of country manager Australia for three and a half years.