Gumtree has announced the appointment of Shannon Fitzpatrick (main photo) as director of advertising.
In his new role, Fitzpatrick will be leading a team of sales, operations and analysts focused on delivering rich and relevant brand solutions powered by insight to Gumtree’s wealth of clients. He will lead strategic direction to drive further growth for the site’s programmatic-first advertising approach.
Fitzpatrick’s appointment comes at a critical point in time for Gumtree Media, as a growing number of businesses are turning to data-led advertising for agility and precision targeting capabilities, in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
He brings almost two decades’ experience in media and advertising to the role, having worked in a variety of commercial positions across print and online. He was previously the Director of Programmatic and Ad-Tech at Domain, where he served as the strategic and technology lead for programmatic, ad-tech and performance as well as ad operations. Before joining Domain, Fitzpatrick was the Digital Solutions Business Development Manager at Adstream and held senior commercial roles at many of Australia’s largest publishers, including Newscorp and Bauer.
Fitzpatrick said of his appointment: “What attracted me to the role is the fact that Gumtree is a beloved brand that connects its seven million monthly users locally as they browse, buy and sell through the site. Through our world class technology, we have access to data that allows us to identify intent and personas through custom segmentation, so we can create audience driven solutions across our display, native and rich media product suite.
“I am excited by what we can do in this new era of marketing and advertising where first-party data is opening up brand new opportunities for partnership. I look forward to taking Gumtree Media to the next level by bringing new audience and native led solutions to life for our clients.”
Gumtree launched its programmatic-first marketplace in 2016 and has continued to invest in DMP, programmatic advertising capabilities and first-party data ever since. The business is following a vision of becoming Australia’s best native audience offering by leveraging the site’s rich first-party data and working closely with its technology partners to create insight-led custom partnerships for its clients.
Mark Kehoe, managing director Gumtree Australia added: “We are excited to have Shannon join the leadership team as his extensive experience will be critical to the continued success and power of Gumtree Media. In addition to being an expert in his field, Shannon is also a passionate advocate for developing talent and creating a strong team culture, and I am confident his leadership will contribute significantly to the success of the team and our clients.
“At a time when Australians are turning to ecommerce, Shannon will bring fresh thinking and new strategies to take advantage of these trends for our clients.”
