GLOBAL, FEBRUARY 2012: Media conglomerate News Corporation has appointed Hamish McLennan, previously the global CEO of Y&R, as executive vice president, tasked to develop the company’s “global brand partnerships” and strengthen marketing alliances. The appointment has been made only a year after McLennan left the post, which was then assumed by David Sable.
McLennan will report to chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and president and COO Chase Carey. Murdoch has said that McLennan is the “right executive” needed to maximize News Corporation’s global media investments. McLennan previously held positions in Y&R’s Australian and New Zealand business and George Patterson Bates.
The media conglomerate recently inked a global partnership with Unilever, built around a new Kiefer Sutherland starrer. It will launch in over 100 markets simultaneously, with marketing support from Unilever’s deodorant brand Sure (Degree in the US and Rexona outside the States and the United Kingdom).
News Corporation is presently dealing with the fallout of a hacking scandal involving its U.K. newspaper unit, which ended with the shutdown of the tabloid News of the World in July 2011. The company has since settled with approximately 60 hacking victims, but lawsuits and three parallel police probes have still to be dealt with.
