News Corp Australia’s new SA boss, Melissa Librandi, brings global thinking to a local role
Melissa Librandi, the new managing director for News Corp Australia in SA, says readers can expect more innovation and personalisation as news products evolve.
Much like the company itself, Melissa Librandi – the newly appointed managing director, South Australia for News Corporation Australia – brings a global sensibility to the role along with a passion for the local.
In some ways it is a return to her media roots for Ms Librandi, who started out as a brand manager at Australian Radio Network, before moving into major events, senior roles including head of domestic marketing at the South Australian Tourism Commission, followed by a stint at fast-growing homegrown tourism operator Discovery Holiday Parks (Gday Group).
In recent years Ms Librandi has worked as a consultant, and joined Port Adelaide Football Club as general manager marketing and growth as the pandemic struck, taking an opportunity around the same time for a secondment into the State Government’s Covid-19 Response Team, helping keep South Australians informed during the darkest days of the pandemic.
Now in her new role at News Corp, where she succeeds industry veteran Ish Davies, Ms Librandi says she’s energised about what the future holds for News Corp both widely and across its local assets, The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and Advertiser.com.au.
“Along the way I’ve been exposed to some incredible businesses, whether it be private equity, working for the state government or corporations, but the opportunities that I’ve had involved being able to think really big picture and focus on global mega-trends,’’ she said.
“I think if you’re that way inclined, if you’re thinking ‘what does that mean for us?’, the alignment is really strong.
“If you’ve got a global thinker, which I am, and you can work for a truly international business, that has a local heart – I am South Australian born and bred – for me, that’s the perfect fit.’’
Ms Librandi said when she was working in consulting and later as part of the AFL, she made a conscious effort to move away from tourism and travel, in order to broaden her expertise.
“I wanted to ensure that the skill set I had could be used across multiple industries,’’ she said.
Ms Librandi said News Corp Australia was now one of the largest news subscription businesses in the world, tracking towards one million subscribers nationally, and the strength of the brand came from its national reach as well as the depth across news and sport coverage, but also verticals such as food, travel, real estate, motoring, business, lifestyle, prestige, and many more.
Her role in South Australia was about doubling down on the strength of those sectors, while preparing the company locally for its next growth phase.
“I think it’s capitalising on that brand equity to deliver commercial advocacy campaigns – there would be few other businesses globally that have that sort of breadth and scope to communicate to audiences,’’ she said.
Ms Librandi said News Corp subscribers could expect increasing sophistication in the tailoring of news offerings to what they wanted to read and watch, and there was also a lot of work being done nationally on the editorial front about how stories are told.
At home in SA, Ms Librandi said there were few brands which enjoyed the influence, prestige and trust which The Advertiser carries, “and I think the masthead will always have the ability to be able to, inform, advocate and inspire, which is the entire ethos of our business’’.
“I don’t think we should take that for granted in a world where ‘fake news’ has become part of our vernacular.
“We always, hand on heart, will publish without fear or favour and I think that’s what has held this 164-year-old brand in good stead and what will continue to evolve the brand’s growth.
“I think we find ourselves in a position where trusted brands like The Advertiser in our market, and the other mastheads around the country, have become more important to Australians than they ever have been.’’
Ms Librandi said her previous roles, which were both deeply local while extending across international borders, have prepared her well for the role, as has her background as an early adopter of ad-tech and mar-tech platforms.
“I feel like all the experience I’ve had to this point is leading me perfectly to this moment in time,’’ Ms Librandi said.
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