Former GM of marketing for APN Outdoor, Charlotte Valente (right, feature image), has been appointed GM for the B2B division of the Big Red Group (BRG).

Valente will head up Marketics, the exclusive distributor of Albert AI marketing technology in Australia and New Zealand, and the group’s workplace experiences product Redii from Monday May 20.

The Big Red Group is also the parent company to marketplace brands RedBalloon and Adrenaline (acquired in November 2018).

The group was formed in July 2017 by Naomi Simson (left, feature image) and business partner and CEO David Anderson, and less than two years on is a $100M enterprise with eyes on further local and global growth and acquisition.

The hire of Valente is a key milestone on the growth roadmap for the BRG, as corporate sales represent a huge opportunity in the growing experience economy, both at home and abroad.

Marketics has a number of big brands using Albert AI to grow their digital marketing footprint, and the Redii points platform has been the leader in the reward and recognition space for almost five years.

There are a number of other B2B offerings which are set to join the fold under Valente’s leadership.

Valente has spent her career in media and comes to the group with a strong data pedigree.

She is passionate about the powerful insights good data can deliver, and about turning those insights into customer-centric solutions for business.

Valente said: “I love getting under the skin of businesses and aligning solutions to their challenges, and that is exactly what this role is about. Ultimately what we’re selling at the Big Red Group is engagement – and engagement is the key to all growth.

“B2B brings with it a whole host of challenges and opportunities, and I am genuinely excited to lead the team as we deliver world-class marketing and employee engagement solutions to businesses across Australia and New Zealand.”

“To be at the very forefront is exciting. The Albert product is a real game-changer for the way businesses approach digital marketing, while the Redii business allows us to have a hand in shifting the way people experience life at work.”

Big Red Group co-founder Naomi Simson said the appointment of Valente was a nod to the enormous opportunity ahead for both AI marketing technology and the continued focus businesses are putting on their most valuable assets – people.

Simson said: “I’m pleased to have a GM on board of the calibre of Charlotte to help deliver more meaningful programs to Australian businesses.

“Similarly, I have been speaking recently to a number of audiences and sharing the success many of our clients are seeing from engaging the Albert technology.

“Such as Cellarmasters who have seen their search cost per acquisition reduce by 54 per cent; their return on ad spend increase 149 per cent and generic ad impression share increase by 34 per cent versus last year,” Simson said.

“These results, alongside what Albert has achieved for the RedBalloon business, absolutely justifies the appointment of a candidate like Charlotte into this role, and we are looking forward to seeing the success we can bring to more clients by shifting the way they approach digital marketing and offering a more lean solution than we often see from agency partners.”