Nine today announced the appointment of Ben Gunn to the role of director of sales – digital.

Gunn will oversee the commercial strategy of Nine’s digital network including 9Now, 9News, Wide World of Sports, Honey, Coach, Pickle and the recently launched travel site Elsewhere, plus the Microsoft products suite of MSN, Skype and Outlook. He will also promote Nine’s advanced programmatic offering using the AppNexus platform powered by Australia’s largest data set.

Reporting to Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer, and Alex Parsons, Nine’s chief digital and marketing officer, as a true digital native Gunn brings to the role more than 15 years’ experience in digital, executing commercial strategies for a range of publishers and well-known brands, including Fairfax Media and more recently Qantas, where he held the role of business development and commercial director.

“We have been looking for the best digital sales leader in the market to lead our commercial digital organisation. Ben’s reputation speaks for itself – he is the perfect leader to help drive our digital future,” Stephenson said.

“As we relaunch and rebrand Ninemsn to become Nine.com.au we are creating a more powerful media network that drives greater synergy between our broadcast and digital assets for consumers and brands. Ben leading digital and Richard Hunwick leading television will be a formidable force in market together.”

Parsons added: “We are hugely excited about the opportunity of working with Ben to develop a world-class customer experience, and launch innovative ad and data products that have been made possible through the recent investment in our new ad-platform, AppNexus.”

Nine has completely re-engineered its digital business over the past 18 months, launching a world-class, live-streaming and video on-demand platform, 9Now, reimaged its lifestyle offering with the launch of Honey, Coach, Pickle, and Elsewhere, and will soon deliver a new consumer-centred homepage, nine.com.au, that will sit at the core of Nine’s digital brand ecosystem.

“When I looked at the market to determine where the greatest opportunities lie I was immediately drawn to Nine,” Gunn said. “Owning their digital future, the investment they have made on their transformation journey and the recent market-leading ad-platform evolution provides a great baseline for future commercial success.

“I believe my commercial experience across both publishers and clients, coupled with my deep understanding of advertising and data, will create an exciting nexus with the existing strengths of the team at Nine.”