News International appoints first regional sales director to drive “platform agnostic” ad strategy

Breaking down silos within internal departments is vital to ensuring publishers can align themselves in accordance with the evolving structures of their agencies, according to Perkins.

“Developing partnerships will become a focus and I’ll be looking at how we optimise the opportunities of cross-department partnerships more effectively, how we can bring together our editorial marketing departments to get clearer packages out to clients as well as external partnerships with other media owners – maybe with competitors or maybe with Sky,” she told The Drum.

The aim is to further open up cross-selling opportunities across its brand portfolio and potentially via closer relationships with other media owners, to ensure a client can have access to all relevant audiences rather than targeting specific brands like The Sun or The Times, according to Perkins.

“I want to ensure we have the right set-up to be platform agnostic. That will mean getting the right solution for our clients based on the audiences they want to target across our entire portfolio ensuring focus is on our content and brands rather than specific products,” she said.

This could see them collaborate with Sky for example in servicing a client’s needs for mutual benefit, added Perkins.

“Clients may want a solution that is TV, print, digital, and mobile – it’s about how we can come back with a collective solution that solves their problem and gives them the audience reach they want. It’s about having a more joined-up approach,” she said.

With print sales in decline the publisher is adopting an increasingly audience-centric approach to selling, drawing more from its data insight to target more effectively, according to Perkins.

“It’s not about volume anymore, it’s about audiences and delivery and looking to breakdown silos across our whole portfolio,” she added.

Her comments follow the news that News International has launched an advertising innovation unit aimed at creating new ad formats for mobile products and how to make the best use of its data to provide more granular ad targeting.

Perkins was previously head of regional transformation at News International Commercial and prior to that was head of display between 2010 and 2012. In her new role she will travel between all three regional offices, reporting to partnerships director Corinne Wilkins.