APN NZ establishes integrated structure under new chief marketing officer Kursten Shalfoon

APN New Zealand has combined its marketing teams in a single structure under newly appointed chief marketing officer Kursten Shalfoon (left).

Shalfoon will manage specialist teams across product, digital, circulation, brand and communications, insights, pricing and business development.

Shalfoon joined APN 12 months ago to lead the business development team and prior to that was general manager of consumer marketing and general manager of online and new media with Vodafone NZ.  He has held senior product management and strategy roles for the past decade.

Commenting on his appointment, Shalfoon said he was looking forward to leading the new marketing team as it meets the challenges of the competitive and changing media landscape.

Says Shalfoon: “APN is a truly multimedia organisation and this structure allows us to take a more customer and brand centric approach with a continued focus on digital innovation and product development.

”We have a great stable of brands with the Herald being one of New Zealand’s favourite and most trusted and we’re committed to evolving it to deliver the very best customer experience across our print and digital products. We will also continue to diversify our offering which in recent months has seen the launch of foodhub.co.nz and digital subscriptions for the Listener magazine.”

Shalfoon continues to report to APN NZ’s CEO, Martin Simons.

In addition to Shalfoon’s appointment, new management roles have been created within the team.

Sarah Kenny has been promoted to the role of GM brand & communications after eight years with APN. Kenny has experience across both print and digital products, with the last six years spent leading the marketing team at APN Digital. She has a broad range of experience across brand, consumer and trade marketing, product launches and social media.

Carin Hercock has been appointed as GM business development & new product development. Over the last nine years Hercock has led APN’s Insight and Creative teams. Hercock has been a key player in several of APN’s major product development projects including the launch of the Herald on Sunday, re-designs of the Weekend Herald and the recent re-launch of the NZ Herald to a compact format.

Brad Glading has been appointed head of marketing Insights. He has been a key member of the team with best-in-class research and insights capabilities since 2006. He has also held a number of research and advertising planning roles at the NAB, and News International in both the UK and Australia.

GM digital Spencer Bailey, GM circulation and distribution and Matt Wilson will also report to Shalfoon in his new role.

Stephanie Gray, trade marketing manager, has left APN after seven years to take up a new, senior marketing manager role. Gray’s replacement will be announced in coming weeks.