News Ltd's group marketing director Joe Talcott is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Ian Alwill as chairman of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) after potential rival Mark Buckman pulled out of the contest.
Buckman, marketing chief of the Commonwealth Bank, told B&T that he was not putting his name forward for the chairmanship, leaving Talcott as the only candidate for the position at the ad industry body.
Former McDonald's marketer Talcott still has to be approved in a vote at the AANA's AGM in November and could still face a challenge from another candidate. However, this is understood to be highly unlikely.
“I've chosen not to stand, but the AANA is well positioned with Joe, who is eminently qualified for the job, should he be elected in November,” Buckman said. “The role takes up a considerable amount of time, which was a consideration for me.”
Talcott, who, like Buckman, is currently a deputy chairman of the AANA, said that the organisation’s upcoming appointment of a full-time chief executive was a factor in his decision to stand. “I'm very excited about the CEO role, it will dramatically change the way we work,” he said. “When we (Talcott and Buckman) joined as deputies, we both wanted to change the structure. Should I become chairman, I would have three priorities. Firstly, we need to continue to promote a self-regulated industry. Secondly - and I never thought we'd be involved in this - we need to highlight the economic benefits of advertising. With some Australians struggling to make ends meet, people miss the connection between advertising and prosperity. Thirdly, we need to develop new talent for our craft. We’ve experienced a talent shortage in the last few years and we need to get onto the front foot.”
The AANA has received more than 50 applications for the CEO role, with a shortlist of six drawn up. This list, which contains names from ad agencies, marketing departments and academia, will be further reduced ahead of an appointment in October.
Collin Segelov, executive director of the AANA, will stand down from his role to take up an unnamed lobbying position elsewhere, but will remain in place during the handover period to the new CEO.
“I was only initially a consultant and I got sucked in bit by bit to the executive director role - I certainly don't want to go on beyond March next year,” Segelov said.
“The AANA is a totally different organisation from 10 years ago. Our focus used to be guidelines and best practice, but that's now secondary to promoting the right to advertise, which is under threat from all sides. The CEO will be the voice and face of the AANA. Ian (Alwill) and I have focused on self-regulation over the past five years, so hopefully the new CEO will be able to take a new direction.”
Alwill, who is executive director of group marketing and communications at Nestlé, will stand down as AANA chairman after a decade in the role in November. However, he has indicated he wants to continue in his role as chairman of the Advertising Standards Bureau, resulting in what Segelov described as an “appropriate separation” of the two organisations’ leaderships.
