APN has appointed a new group executive team in New Zealand to drive collaboration benefits across the group and “fulfil a bold new vision to fully engage Kiwis anywhere, anytime with the content they love”.
APN CEO Jane Hastings says the quality of the new leadership team reflects APN’s strong position in the market and its combined potential for growth.
“The new team has a wealth of experience in successful and leading marketing and digital companies including Fairfax, Spark, News Corp Australia, Myer, The Warehouse and Yahoo as well as TRN and APN,” she says. “Their combined experience will enable us to connect with more Kiwis more often, and in more ways.
“The total APN portfolio connects with close to 3.3 million people, that’s 85% of the total NZ population,” says Hastings. “By 9am 66% of Auckland has read, heard, seen or engaged with an APN brand. The focus on the group executive team is to leverage the power of the Group audience and eCommerce capabilities.”
Hastings says the group’s massive potential, which now includes radio, publishing, tv, magazine, digital and e-commerce businesses, will be realised in the marketplace as APN becomes the outstanding and preferred news and entertainment destination for New Zealanders across all platforms and devices.
“The group structure will ensure we don’t think vertically but across all of our offerings as consumers pick and mix how they access content,” she said. “And we will connect our advertisers to those audiences.
Sandra King takes up the role of APN Group Director – Commercial. King successfully re-positioned Fairfax in the market place over nine years as Head of Sales and Marketing and more recently has been Manager at the PPR NZ office.
“A big part of what I bring is future-proofing media in its evolution and development,” she says. “I look forward to working with such iconic NZ brands and a team of very talented individuals who are committed to taking the APN Group to a new level.”
Liza McNally joins APN as Group Marketing Director after successfully managing the key media strategy for Telecom’s rebrand to Spark. She was NSW Director of Marketing and Newspaper Sales at News Corp Australia, specialising in audience growth through emerging and traditional channels.
Richard Harrison returns to New Zealand from Australia as APN Group Director – eCommerce and New Ventures. He was most recently General Manager Online at Myer where he successfully reset their online business development strategy to transform Myer into a competitive multi-channel retailer. The four years prior to his move across the Tasman, Harrison was General Manager Multichannel for The Warehouse in New Zealand. He will drive new eCommerce initiatives across the group and will lead GrabOne, the country’s third most visited online retail site and a business that APN is yet to fully leverage.
Laura Maxwell-Hansen has stepped into APN as Group Director – Digital Media, building on her track record as Commercial Director at TRN which she first took up in July 2013. Prior to her appointment with TRN she held the role of General Manager/Director for Yahoo! New Zealand. Her exceptional results led to many exclusive partnerships which became significant drivers for the business. She is also former chair of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
“APN NZ is in an enviable position as a local media player,” says Maxwell-Hansen. “We already generate significant content across multiple platforms. Now we can really connect our national digital media footprint to create exciting new propositions for audiences, consumers and advertisers to engage with us more than ever.”
Carolyn Luey moves to her new role as Director of Strategy and Operations following a successful career at TRN as Group General Manager Product, Digital and Technology. She has over 15 years’ experience in digital media, strategy, product management, marketing and business development across a range of industries including FMCG, telecommunications and security services.
In addition to the group executives former MediaWorks National Sales & Business Development Manager, Mark Smith, comes across as APN Group GM Integrated Solutions – Direct. He says the range of APN’s assets and the prospect of working with Hastings swayed him over other offers.
“In previous roles I’ve been tasked with achieving exponential growth and there are certainly development opportunities available within the APN stable,” says Smith.
Hastings says she is extremely pleased with the group’s executive talent and the experience they bring in strategic innovation.
“Integration is fundamental and the market is demanding it from us,” she says. “We are building on the strong content foundation of each of our businesses and offering the market new ways to connect with our audiences. You know the strategy is right when your customers are saying ‘this is exactly what we want’.”
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