Former ninemsn chief executive officer Joe Pollard has been named the new head of Publicis Mojo, a move that also sees her become the first Australian representative to sit on the Publicis Worldwide Executive Committee.

For ninemsn, Pollard oversaw the local launches of Microsoft’s search product Bing and deals product Cudo.

Pollard also spent considerable time as global director of media, digital and brand content at Nike in the US and then as CMO in Japan.

Her experience as both a publisher and a client was the deciding factor, Jean-Yves Naouri, executive chairman of Publicis Worldwide, told The Australian: “Given her time on agency side, client side and recently running the largest digital publisher in Australia, I believe she brings a unique set of skills to Publicis Mojo in helping drive our clients’ business.”

The agency group has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and Pollard’s arrival in two weeks marks the departure of management pair Graeme Wills and Nicholas Davie.