Domain's chief marketing and content officer switches sides to join the realestate.com.au business owner
Melina Cruickshank has jumped ship from Domain and joined dominant rival player, REA Group, as its new chief marketing and content officer.
Cruickshank has spent the past four years as chief marketing and editorial officer at Domain, which spun out of the Fairfax business and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in its own right 12 months ago with a market valuation of $2.2 billion.
Cruickshank’s defection was announced just days after the historic $4.2 billion merger of Nine and Fairfax was given the go-head by the Federal Court of Australia. The businesses begin operating as one entity from 10 December.
Cruickshank is directly reporting into REA Group CEO, Tracey Fellows, who is stepping down in January to take up a role with News Corp overseeing global digital real estate, based out of New York. The post sees Fellows continuing to work with the REA business.
REA’s CMO appointment comes after it lost its former marketing and content chief, Kieran Cooney, to Foxtel in October, as well as EGM of media and content, Elizabeth Minogue, in August.
Cruickshank said it was a difficult decision to leave Domain. “I’ve enjoyed my time here and am grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given,” she said.
“The transition offers a global role for the industry leader, and I’m excited about stepping up to lead teams at that level. I also have enormous respect for Tracey and the REA executive team and am excited to work with them.”
Prior to her current stint at Domain, Cruickshank was group director of Life Media at Fairfax leading product and commercial content teams. During this time, the division launched digital brands such as Traveller, daily Life, Executive Style and Good Food. She also worked across Domain original as a product director. Her resume also includes product and digital roles with Southcorp Wines and View Digital communications in the UK.
Fellows said Cruickshank was a standout candidate and she was delighted to see her joining the REA team.
“Melina is passionate about this sector and has a track record of success leading teams and growing product and content revenue streams in Australia and abroad,” she said. “Melina will drive our global marketing and content strategy, working with our talent teams in Australia and around the globe.”
In a statement to employees, Domain Group CEO, Jason Pellegrino, thanked Cruickshank for 13 years with Fairfax and Domain. In the interim, the content and audience teams are reporting directly to Pellegrino.
"In this fast-moving environment it makes sense for her and Domain to make a change now," he stated. "We know there will be great competition internally and externally to be the new person in the role. We will keep you briefed on the process."
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+:google.com/+CmoAu
In this latest episode of our Conversations over a Cuppa with CMO series, we catch up with Jane Power, who stepped into the director of marketing and transformation role at GenesisCare in April 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed brands’ CX shortcomings and a lack of customer understanding. Given ongoing disruption, customer needs, wants and expectations are continually changing, also causing customers to behave in different ways. Just look at hoarding toilet paper, staple and canned food, medicinal and cleaning products.
Understanding the core principles of Behavioural Economics will give players in the travel industry a major competitive advantage when restrictions lift and travellers begin to book again. And there are a few insights in here for the rest of the marketing community, too.
Unicorns, the Sunken City of Atlantis, Zeus: They are very famous. So famous in fact, that we often think twice about whether they are real or not. Sometimes if we talk about something widely enough, and for long enough, even the strangest fiction can seem like fact. But ultimately it is still fiction - stories we make up and tell ourselves over and over until we believe.
looking for the best quality of SMM Panel ( Social Media Marketing Panel ) is a website where People Buy Social Media Services Such as Fa...
Kavin kyzal
How to manage social media during Covid-19
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Definitely bookmarked for future reading! Check this website https://a2designlab.com/ with lots of ...
Pierce Fabreverg
Study: Gen Z are huge opportunity for brands
Thanks for sharing. You might want to check this website https://lagimcardgame.com/. An up and coming strategic card game wherein the cha...
Pierce Fabreverg
Board games distributor partners with Deliveroo in business strategy pivot
Such an important campaign, dyslexia certainly need more awareness. Amazing to see the work Code Read is doing. On the same note we are a...
Hugo
New campaign aims to build understanding around scope and impact of dyslexia
Great Job on this article! It demonstrates how much creativity, strategy and effort actually goes to produce such unique logo and brandin...
Pierce Fabreverg
Does your brand need a personality review? - Brand vision - CMO Australia