Media industry veteran Pippa Leary joins News Corp’s executive team

News Corp’s push to be the premier marketing services provider for Australian businesses has been further bolstered by the appointment of Pippa Leary.

Pippa Leary is joining News Corp Australia as managing director, client product.

News Corp’s push to be the premier marketing services provider for Australian businesses has been further bolstered by the appointment of Pippa Leary to the company’s executive team.

Ms Leary, a 25-year industry veteran, will take on the new role of managing director, client product, from November 1.

The Sydney-based executive said the way that media businesses engaged with their clients had significantly evolved in recent years, and News Corp was well-positioned to capitalise on the shifting trends.

“We’re well past the point of thinking in terms of platforms — is it digital, is it TV, is it print? Now, everybody is thinking in terms of how your brand talks to an audience,” Ms Leary said.

“What is the way The Australian talks to an audience, or the Herald-Sun, or The Daily Telegraph, or Vogue, or Taste?

“We’re focused on the content the audience wants, how we can make it easier for them to get it, and how we commercialise that.

“We need to be completely platform-agnostic about how we do that. The good news for News is that it’s definitely made that leap.”

Ms Leary said that while the pandemic had thrown up some obvious challenges for the industry, it had also highlighted its strengths.

“Content is still king, and especially so during Covid, when you’ve seen a flight back to quality and to trust,” she said.

“We need to back ourselves — in a world where there are so many different media choices and so many ways to source information, as long as we’re creating trusted, authoritative and engaging content, people are going to keep coming to our brands.

“And they have a relationship with the brand, not the platform.”

Ms Leary will report directly to News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller as part of the senior leadership team.

Mr Miller said Ms Leary’s role had a number of facets and was a practical demonstration of the company’s pledge to provide business-building product solutions for its clients.

“Under Pippa’s leadership we will see the significant development of our suite of client products which will see investments in new leads, ratings, affiliate, data and e-commerce capabilities,” Mr Miller said.

“Our trusted and targeted brands reach large and engaged audiences, and by bringing all our client products together under Pippa, our business partners will benefit from the integrated and commercially creative solutions provided by Lou Barrett and our client sales teams.

“I’m also keen for us to capitalise on Pippa’s long and successful track record identifying trends and how they are likely to shape the market in a year or two’s time. Staying ahead of the market is very much Pippa’s passion and it will help ensure we are continually investing in the right products well ahead of the curve to further strengthen our competitive position for the benefit of our clients, both big and small.

Ms Leary has spent the past 25 years working in commercial innovation roles across many of Australia’s largest media companies: Microsoft, ninemsn, Fairfax and Channel 9 and most recently as chief executive at ASX-listed Swift Media.

Ms Leary said her broad experience makes her uniquely suited to understanding how publisher products can help solve client challenges.

“Having innovated new products, and then watched them be commoditised and disrupted has provided me with a first-hand understanding of how media companies need to innovate in order to win, not only against local competitors but also global platforms,” she said.

“News Corp Australia has always been the media partner of choice for brands to connect with customers and I’m looking forward to joining Michael’s team to help build highly effective and differentiated solutions for our clients.”