New Zealand Media and Entertainment is expanding its commercial presence in the South Island, with Ben Harris joining as Christchurch General Manager and current Christchurch GM Matt Bowness heading up the South Island agency team.
Harris is one of the South Island’s most experienced media managers and commercial leaders, with nearly 18 years’ experience as a top performing media consultant, a General Manager and a Regional Manager for Mediaworks.
NZME Chief Radio and Commercial Officer Wendy Palmer says: “Ben is very well known and incredibly highly regarded across the Christchurch and Canterbury business communities. With his vast commercial and media experience Ben’s focus on delivering results for clients makes him perfect to join our senior leadership team in the South Island.”
Harris says: “It’s been impressive to watch NZME develop and deliver its Christchurch and South Island strategy.
“With powerhouse brands like Newstalk ZB, the New Zealand Herald and OneRoof, NZME’s always had a strong presence here. But the growth ambitions the business has to engage South Island audiences with more of its great local content and to support our business communities is on another level. I’m very excited to be a part of it.”
The creation of Matt Bowness’ new role as a dedicated General Manager of Agency for the South Island is the next step in NZME’s audience and customer focused growth strategy.
NZME Chief Revenue Officer Paul Hancox says: “Matt’s done a superb job as our Christchurch General Manager and it’s through Matt’s work that we identified a brilliant opportunity to further support our advertising agency partners with key South Island clients.
“Matt’s already identified a wealth of growth opportunities for our current agency clients and has plenty of exciting new initiatives to take to market as well.”
