Mediaweek’s Media Movers charts the biggest people moves in the industry over the past week.
This week:
Lisa Ronson has announced her next move as chief marketing officer of health insurer, Medibank. Ronson is set to start on 22 July.
Ronson’s appointment follows the departure of senior executive of brand, marketing, and customer experience Fiona Le Broq, who left on 25 June after nine years with the company for a new opportunity, as Medibank told Mediaweek.
Paul Luckett has shared news of his departure from News Corp Australia after almost a decade with the publisher.
He took to LinkedIn to say that his role as head of ad tech and commercial innovation was among those impacted by the recent restructuring.
As parent company Nine Entertainment makes extensive cuts, Pedestrian Group is transitioning “out of current brand licences,” alongside the departure of Pedestrian CEO, Matt Rowley.
Licensed brands to be dropped include Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Vice, Refinery29, and Kotaku.
Executive head of LiSTNR Podcasts Grant Tothill has appointed Clair Weaver to the newly created role of head of factual for LiSTNR.
Weaver’s career includes working with 60 Minutes as a producer, 9News Sydney as an investigations editor, The Australian Women’s Weekly as a senior journalist, and, as a reporter for the Sunday Telegraph and London’s Evening Standard.
Dan Fryer has joined Hello Social as executive creative director to expand the independent agency’s creative offering after five years with The Monkeys.
Fryer will lead Hello Social’s creative vision, collaborating closely with a full-service team of specialists across editorial, studio, production, talent, media and PR.
The Lab has promoted Rebecca Brody to managing director, Melbourne.
The newly created role cements the business’ growth plans, particularly in the Victorian capital, as it continues to enhance its suite of capabilities across qualitative and quantitative research, Behavioural Science, cultural analysis, data and analytics.
Broadsheet has appointed Nick Connellan to the newly created role of Australia editor to oversee daily operations of the editorial team and contribute to the strategic direction of local content
He will continue reporting to editorial director Katya Wachtel when she returns from maternity leave, while managing the team’s editors.
Man of Many has revealed its dedicated corporate site which aims to elevate brand visibility, attract advertiser inquiries, and offer comprehensive data and analytics to potential partners.
Dean Blake joins the Man of Many editorial team, focusing on the technology, entertainment, and lifestyle sectors. Beatrix Boon is also joining Man of Many and will work as a video producer. Boon previously worked at NOVA Entertainment, where she led video content production for the podcast team.
UM Australia has promoted Michael Mellington to the newly created role of head of media planning. Mellington, who was previously head of partnerships, Melbourne, will lead the agency’s national media planning team and bring his experience to the forefront of UM’s media planning craft.
The Australian and Prestige titles have unveiled a new leadership team to drive the next phase of audience and commercial growth, led by managing director and publisher Nicholas Gray and editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn.
Sophie Raptis has been appointed general manager, commercial for The Australian and Prestige Titles. Raptis returns to the Australian market to join the business in this new role and will be responsible for driving revenue growth and partnerships across the portfolio.
Other editorial leaders under Gunn, include Kelvin Healey, editor of The Australian, Edwina McCann, editorial director and publisher, prestige and Conde Nast Titles, Darren Davidson, managing editor and commercial director, Petra Rees, deputy editor, Georgina Windsor, deputy editor, Christine Kellett, head of digital, Claire Harvey, editorial director, Perry Williams, business editor, and Johnathan Barhoumeh, head of video.
Other recent senior appointments reporting to Gray are Suz Rolfe, current head of subscriber experience, will move to the new role of general manager, Marketing, Audience and Digital Development to drive audience growth and lead digital product management.
Chrissie Bell, appointed general manager, Subscriber Data, Platforms and Growth, will optimise revenue growth and enhance subscriber experience through platforms, data, pricing strategies and consumer operations for all News Corp Australia.
Helen McMurdo, current general manager, Tech Platform Partnerships, will continue to lead the strategy and execution for content licensing, technology platform partnerships, and content partnerships for all of News Corp Australia reporting to Gray.
TikTok has made several of its Australian roles redundant following large-scale layoffs affecting roughly 1,000 global employees of the social media platform.
EssenceMediacom has appointed Sarah James as chief investment officer, underscoring the GroupM agency’s commitment to investment strategies in the new communications economy.
Initiative has promoted Megan Davey to the newly created role of head of Melbourne from general manager, Melbourne.
Mason Rook has resigned from his role as commercial director of sales and operations for Australia and New Zealand at Guardian Australia.
DDB Sydney has appointed Rupert Price as chief strategy officer. He joins the agency’s Sydney office from DDB Group Aotearoa where he spent the last 12 years as its chief strategy officer. Price brings with him 25 years of industry experience in agencies across London and New Zealand.