Mark Buckman becomes independent OzTam chair
- 08 October, 2021 15:00
Former Telstra and Commonwealth Bank CMO, Mark Buckman, has become the new independent chair of OzTam, effective 1 November 2021.
Buckman has more than 30 years’ experience in marketing, advertising and business transformation, working for a number of iconic Australian brands. Among his more executive leadership roles are managing director of customer and retail at Foxtel, which he held for 18 months until the end of 2017, chief marketing officer then group MD marketing and media at Telstra from 2010 until mi-2014, and CMO of Commonwealth Bank for five years prior to that.
Buckman also boasts of strong corporate governance and strategic acumen through executive, advisory and board roles over recent years including with Accenture Interactive and a range of not-for-profit organisations such as SecondBite and Thankful.
Buckman replaces Richard Herring, who has been a non-executive chairman for OzTam since 2017. OzTam CEO, Doug Peiffer, said Buckman’s experience and fresh perspective will be a great asset for the group as it works to provide measuring services in the next-generation TV media landscape.
“Mark is an experienced executive who understands both the client side of our business and the media and advertising industry’s complex dynamic,” Peiffer said. “He offers fresh insight and a wealth of board advisory and directorship expertise as OzTam progressively evolves its all-screen, cross-platform measurement and reporting service, and will support our mission to provide independent, robust, transparent and credible data that reflects actual Australian viewing behaviour and meets client needs.”
For his part, Buckman noted OzTam’s internationally recognised audience measurement capabilities and focus on delivering a complex, highly technical service “deserving of industry currency status”.
“I’m looking forward to working with OzTam’s leadership team and my board colleagues as OzTAM navigates a period of dynamic industry change,” he said.
As part of the announcement, OzTam shareholders thanked Herring for his contribution during a time that saw OzTam panel homes increase by 50 per cent, the group introduce live, demographic and co-viewing data to its daily Video Player Reporting service and install streaming TV meters in 2500+ OzTam panel homes.
Herring was also at the realm as OzTam launched Virtual Australia or VOZ, the foundation of Australia’s new Total TV reporting standard. VOZ is a database designed to unify linear TV and broadcast video on-demand (BVOD) audiences to create an all-in-one total TV viewing picture. It’s been created by OzTam in partnership with Nielsen.
Check out CMO’s explainer on VOZ here for more details.
OzTAM is an independent company owned by Australia’s major commercial broadcasters, Seven, Nine and Network Ten / CBS.
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