News Corp Australia has announced the appointment of Tom Pitney to the new role of strategy director to accelerate the growth of the company’s commercial content business.
Pitney will work as a strategic resource across the whole division – which includes Visual Domain, Suddenly, Roller and audio arm, NewsCast – to help brands connect, influence and attract Australians through their own channels, plus tap into the combined power of News Corp Australia’s own audiences.
He brings more than a decade of experience as a strategist and marketing professional and joins from oOh!media where he was strategy director.
Previously, as strategic director and strategy and product lead for Junkee Media, Pitney led the strategy and creative output for a wide range of clients including Westpac Group, Netflix and American Express.
Pitney also developed and founded Gen-Z publication Punkee. Before that, Pitney was publisher of youth platform The Vine, acquired by Junkee in 2016.
News Corp Australia’s managing director, commercial content Mike Connaghan said Pitney would play a key role in developing and overseeing the strategic roadmap for the company’s commercial content pillars: content marketing, audio, video, digital, custom publishing, native, partnerships, advertising and production.
“We are building a high performance portfolio of content marketing capabilities. Tom has a track record of solving commercial challenges through creativity and technology and his appointment will be crucial in accelerating the expansion and investment in our commercial content business,” he said.
“With the demand for brand content only escalating, we’re delighted Tom has joined the team as we grow and diversify the way we connect with our partners and our audiences with an increasing focus on digital,” he added.
Pitney said of his new appointment: “I’m excited to be joining News Corp Australia where commercial content is an important part of the company’s growth strategy.”
“With News Corp engaging millions of Aussies each month, the opportunities for brands to understand evolving behaviours, make an impact and connect with different audiences is something I’m really excited to be a part of,” he added.
Nationally, commercial content has been enjoying revenue growth of at least 15 per cent annually in a market estimated to be worth about $2 billion. News Corp Australia is one of the largest players in commercial content working with the country’s largest clients.