Uber Advertising Nabs Yahoo’s Julia Edwards & Amazon’s Shalyce McLean

Uber Australia’s Advertising Division today announces the expansion of its leadership team, including the appointment of two female leaders, Julia Edwards and Shalyce McLean, to support the business’ early traction across its core verticals and agency partners.

Lead Image: L-R – Nick Sargent, Head of Enterprise Restaurants; Shalyce McLean, Agency Lead; Michael Levine, Head of Advertising by Uber ANZ; Julia Edwards, Head of Strategic Verticals and CPG team

Julia Edwards will lead the division’s Strategic Verticals and CPG team. Reporting to the head of advertising, Michael Levine, Edwards will lead a team of 10 across Australia and New Zealand to craft the Advertising business’ product proposition tailored for the ANZ market and ensure clients understand Uber’s distinctive and powerful advertising tools. Once shortlisted for the Women Leading Tech – Sales Award, her expertise spans Integrated Marketing Strategy, Programmatic Technology, and Consultative Servicing.

“Uber advertising helps power people’s lifestyles, connecting brands and consumers authentically in the moments that matter as they navigate the real world. I am excited to lead a team to empower our partners to leverage these every day moments to connect with their audience across our ad products in an unparalleled and meaningful way during moments of high intention,” Edwards said.

Shalyce McLean is appointed as the agency lead for Uber’s advertising offering. Also reporting to Levine, she will focus on unlocking the advantages of the platform and bringing it to agency partners and their clients.

“It’s an honor to join the growing Advertising at Uber team, and it’s a privilege to scale an offering that I believe to be intensely compelling for the Australian and New Zealand market. Uber is a business that acutely understands how people move and eat, and recognises the value advertising and media agencies offer. I look forward to working alongside our team of advertising professionals to drive mutually beneficial and sustainable growth for agencies, their clients, and our industry”, said McLean.

“We are thrilled to welcome Julia and Shalyce to our team,” said Michael Levine, head of advertising for Uber ANZ. “Their extensive experience and leadership skills will be invaluable as we continue to grow our Advertising business in Australia and New Zealand. Equipping our team with a dedicated strategic focus on our vertical offerings and relationship with CPG brands, alongside a new lead that focuses on developing and building a stronger relationship with agencies locally, I am excited by the expanded opportunity to showcase the capabilities of our advertising surfaces to help brands and marketers look for innovative ways to engage with their consumers”.

The appointments come at a time of rapid growth for Uber’s advertising business. In the past year, the company has also appointed Nick Sargent, Head of Enterprise Restaurants, as part of the division’s leadership and has launched several new advertising products in the region, including Uber Journey Ads with video, Sponsored Items across Uber Eats, Post Check-out video ads, playable ads and more. In Uber’s latest Q4 earnings release, Uber’s global advertising business continues to scale profitably, reaching a US$900m revenue run rate in Q4 2023, with active advertising merchants during the quarter exceeding 550k, up to 75% year-on-year growth*. In Australia and New Zealand, the advertising business is one of the fastest-growing markets outside of the US and Canada, and the local team was shortlisted as the best media platform by B&T in 2023.

Julia and Shalyce will join Michael’s extended leadership team and will work closely with the division’s sales, marketing, and product teams to develop and help brands and advertisers leverage the Uber platform to connect with their target audience.

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