Alex Parsons becomes CEO of CarAdvice after speaheading sales of Fairfax's events and entertainment division following the Nine-Fairfax merger
Former Nine chief marketing and digital officer, Alex Parsons, has returned to CarAdvice as its new CEO.
Parsons has a long history with Nine and was originally involved in the acquisition of the CarAdvice business by Nine in 2016. He then proceeded to take up the marketing mantle before becoming chief digital officer, with responsibility for the launch of the 9Now business and rebranding of ninemsn to nine.com.au. He also played an instrumental role in building up Nine’s data strategy, before leaving in 2017 and becoming CEO of Adcorp.
Parson’s appointment as CEO of CarAdvice comes six months after he returned to Nine to oversee the sale of its events and entertainment division. He replaces Andrew Beecher, who stepped down from the CEO’s post after five years.
In a statement, Nine CFO and chairman of CarAdvice, Greg Barnes, said the appointment signified new strategic focus being place on the automotive publishing business, which merged with Drive Network earlier this year. Drive was originally part of the Fairfax business, which Nine acquired in 2018.
“Alex has a strong history at Nine, including leading Nine’s initial acquisition of CarAdvice, and it’s great to welcome him back,” said Barnes. “He is a proven leader and his experience in the digital, advertising and data space will be the key as we chart the next stage of growth for CarAdvice.”
Read more: How Nine is tapping audience data for advertising, engagement and content innovation
Parson said he was thrilled to be spearheading the CarAdvice business. “Having led the acquisition, I have a great appreciation for both the category and the opportunity ahead of us,” he commented.
“I am looking forward to working with both the CarAdvice team and the wider team Nine to realise its full potential across the automotive vertical.”
In particular, Parsons highlighted the opportunities in uniting Nine’s audience reach and data, with the combined category might of CarAdvice and Drive. Barnes added the opportunity is to capitalise on the assets of the combined group and build on CarAdvice’s current growth trajectory.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia.
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
