AUCKLAND, Wednesday: Ponsonby-based mobile/ad tech creative agency We Are Frank has hired Alan Oliver as commercial director, marking (says Frank founder Benjamin Searancke) “a significant segue back into the digital advertising market after four years focused on recruitment”.
Oliver says the offer from the burgeoning digital ad-tech and creative company was too good to pass up.
“To come back to digital advertising, especially for a company like We Are Frank is a thrill. What I’m most excited about is working for and building a Kiwi owned company that is absolutely focussed on the New Zealand market, without any overseas influences or restrictions.”
Searancke, who created the role specifically for Oliver, describes the appointment as a new phase in the company’s growth.
“Alan has an exceptional reputation having held senior positions within the NZ digital advertising market for over a decade,” he said. “Six months ago it would have been difficult to persuade someone of Alan’s calibre to re-enter the market but We Are Frank’s roadmap to success is obvious now.
“We now have the customer base and capital to capture best in market talent and we’re delighted to have Alan come on board. It’s a testament to where we’re at as a business and how quickly we’ve got there.”
“Standby for January, when he’ll be looking to add to the growing We Are Frank team.”
Originally from the United Kingdom, Oliver’s sales and business development career has spanned over 20 years and covered various sectors including mobile, web, data, content and technology.
A former head of business development for Virgin Radio, Oliver arrived in New Zealand in 2009 to take up a role as account director for The Radio Bureau.
He then became sales director for Valued Interactive Media, business development director for The Radio Network, before managing the country for Snakk Media. There he delivered a series of innovative mobile ad campaigns that went ‘beyond the banner’, including one on the most Android platform that used a sensory layer of a vibration, at that time a market-first.
Oliver moved into recruitment in 2015, setting up his own company EQ Recruitment and most recently was talent sourcing to Fisher & Paykel and Orion Health.
“Standby for January, when he’ll be looking to add to the growing We Are Frank team,” Searancke said.
“I’ll be looking for team players keen to push the boundaries of mobile digital advertising. I want to create the best work culture possible – the company down the road that brings new technology and ideas to market and then buys you a pint afterwards.
“If it’s cool, we want to do it.”
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