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Newly appointed IABNZ chair says he won’t have anything to do with SMI

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand (IABNZ) has appointed Mi9 New Zealand commercial director Daniel Robertson as its new chairperson.

Robertson replaces The Radio Network commercial director (via Yahoo New Zealand) Laura Maxwell-Hansen, who left the position in May.

Speaking to StopPress this morning, Robertson says his position at a full digital media company means he can focus on the platform completely rather than balance conflicts with print, radio, tv, etc as some others in his position might have.

“I can unashamedly wave the digital banner without the fear of losing my job,” he says.

Update: Speaking on behalf of Mi9, Robertson says he is staunch about not providing ad spend information to Standard Media Index (SMI), which is launching in New Zealand this month . In Australia, Mi9 doesn’t doesn’t supply information to SMI – Robertson says he’ll maintain this in New Zealand. Robertson adds in a follow up email that IABNZ members are free to make their own choices on how they deal with SMI.

“The numbers in Australia are wildly inaccurate … It’s not something we want to support here,” he says.

Asked about whether IABNZ will do more to ensure interactive ad revenue stays in New Zealand instead of being siphoned off shores by the likes of Google, – Robertson says it’s still too early to tell.

“There’s a lot of people, myself included, looking at this issue and thinking it’s odd. It’s definitely an international issue, but I can’t comment on it at this point,” he says.

Robertson’s priorities in industry body includes better education on digital marketing (a core pillar of IABNZ) and a focus on attracting more youth into the industry.

“I want to put a spotlight on reaching out to the younger crowd. We need to support the industry at a grass roots level and this isn’t just an IAB thing, it’s a wider industry issue,” he says.

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