Jellysmack has announced Ezechiel Ritchie, ANZ and SEA country manager, has taken on an expanded regional role at the global content creator company as general manager, APAC, amid growth in the region.
Ritchie, who joined Jellysmack last year as ANZ and SEA country manager, previously held executive roles at Google and Taboola, and was at the helm when Jellysmack launched its Creator Program in Australia last October.
The newly appointed APAC general manager, whose role is effective immediately, brings a rich experience in brand partnerships, advertising, and digital content and leverages his deep expertise with content and creators to establish meaningful partnerships.
Jellysmack has partnered with more than 30 Australian and New Zealand content creators since the company launched here last October, including some of the biggest YouTubers such as How Ridiculous, JoshDub, Whippy, Vincenzo’s Plate, Indigo Traveller, Living Big in a Tiny House and How to Cook That.
The company has also expanded its Asia Pacific presence, signing popular creators such as Junya who is Japan’s biggest YouTuber, TikToker, JianHao Tan from Singapore and Food Kingdom in Korea.
Ritchie said of his newly expanded role: “Creators across Australia, New Zealand and Asia are having incredible success, not just on a local level but with fans and subscribers across the globe.
“In Australia alone there are 6 million content creators, which has grown by 48% since 2020. There are 18.5 million content creators in Japan and 17.5 million in South Korea. However, there is a big difference between a content creator and a successful content creator who can make a living from doing what they love.
“This is where Jellysmack can help by growing new audiences and revenue streams for local creators and I’m looking forward to growing our presence in the Asia Pacific region even further,” Ritchie added.
Youri Hazanov, Jellysmack chief international officer, said: “Growing the creator economy across Asia Pacific is a top priority for Jellysmack, and following the success Ritchie has driven across ANZ and Southeast Asia, we are delighted to have him take the reins of the region.”
A recent Adobe Future of Creativity Study, found that more than 165 million creators joined the global creator economy in the last two years and the creator economy is empowering people to monetise their content, goods and services online by leveraging their own creativity, talents and passions.
The Jellysmack Creator Program leverages the company’s proprietary AI technology and first-party data to help individual video creators grow their audiences across multiple social platforms.
Jellysmack uses its suite of tech tools and team of experts to edit, optimise and distribute videos onto Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube on behalf of the creator, thereby establishing new revenue streams.
Globally, since the launch of the program, Jellysmack has signed more than 650 creators. It works with some of the world’s most influential creators as partners, including megastars PewDiePie, MrBeast, Bailey Sarian, and Nas Daily.
