Nick Spooner, Chief Digital Media Officer of Network Ten, has been appointed as the incoming Chairman for IAB Australia.  Unanimously voted to the role by the IAB Australia Board, Mr Spooner will work closely with CEO Paul Fisher to promote the continued growth and success of the interactive advertising industry in Australia.
 
In announcing the appointment, the IAB Australia Board also recognised and thanked exiting Chairman Nic Cola for his leadership of the Board and his personal support and guidance for Paul Fisher over the past two years.
 
Mr Spooner will be the principal contact and reference for Paul Fisher between monthly Board meetings, will oversee the roll out of IAB Australia’s upcoming strategies; and Chair all IAB Australia Board meetings in accordance with industry best practice and current corporate governance legislation.  His appointment is effective immediately.
 
Mr Spooner commented: "The IAB plays a crucial role in driving us forward as an advertising sector and in continuing the rapid growth in online marketing and advertising.  It's an honour to be chosen to lead this charge over the next period of IAB's development.
 
“Important initiatives are underway, not least of these being the online audience measurement review which will allow our industry to clearly demonstrate to market the value we already know that interactive advertising represents.  This will be a key early area of focus for Paul and I, along with ensuring the IAB Awards coming up in July entrench their role as the showcase for the very best of the Australian interactive advertising industry’s capabilities and creativity.   
 
“Also critical will be our work in developing the necessary infrastructure – standards, guidelines, best practice, and research – to support the projected growth of the sector to $3 billion by the end of 2012, as the industry moves increasingly to a cross-media marketing environment for consumers, advertisers and media companies.
 
“I relish the challenge and I am looking forward to getting underway immediately with Paul and the IAB board," said Mr Spooner.
 
Paul Fisher, IAB CEO commented: “During Nic Cola’s tenure as Chairman of the IAB Board of Directors, the IAB’s scope of operations and representation has grown substantially, with recent tangible outcomes such as the publication of standards and guidelines for rich media, and online video advertising, and a substantial suite of self regulatory best practice principles for online behavioral advertising, the most significant self-regulatory initiative this industry has seen in 15 years.
 
“As Chairman, Nic has been a driver of the IAB’s role as an industry advocate and accelerator of market growth, and his support for the IAB and for me as CEO has been enormous. ON behalf of the members and staff of IAB Australia, I wish Nic well in his new role as CEO Marketplaces, Fairfax Media and thank him for his contribution to the IAB.
 
“The IAB now enters a new and exciting chapter in the industry’s growth, and under the Chairmanship of Nick Spooner, I look forward very much to completing much of what we have started, namely the online audience measurement tender, and also taking the IAB further into the rapid growth areas of online marketing and advertising. More details about the specific new initiatives of the IAB will be announced shortly,” said Mr Fisher.
 
Exiting Chairman Nic Cola said: ““I have thoroughly enjoyed my Chairmanship of the IAB Board over the past two years, a period in which both the industry and the IAB have grown substantially. In this time the IAB has focused on the core areas of growth of online audience measurement, research, and standards and guidelines and has also re-positioned the annual IAB Awards as the Australian interactive advertising industry’s showcase event. The IAB also incorporated as a not-for-profit organization with its own Constitution, and the Board of Directors has expanded from seven to 11 Directors.
 
“I am especially pleased the IAB embarked upon the most comprehensive evaluation of online audience measurement methodology ever undertaken in this country, a process which under Nick Spooner’s Chairmanship and Paul Fisher’s excellent leadership, will be completed by the IAB in the first half of 2011. I wish Nick and the IAB continued success as it supports the double digit growth forecast for the industry in the coming years,” said Mr Cola.