Last year, Allan took charge of Newsworks as managing director and has played a central role in running the industry’s “All Together” partnership with the UK Government. The campaign, which has been running for over a year, is the single biggest news brand collaboration the UK has ever seen, involving more than 600 local and national news brands and reaching more than 40 million readers.
Allan has repurposed Newsworks’ narrative around “Journalism Matters”, to highlight the value of trusted news brands and their effectiveness to advertisers.
In addition to “All Together”, notable highlights so far include the World Without News campaign, The Editor’s Inbox podcast series and a rebooted Planning Awards, which celebrate the best in news brand planning, says Newsworks.
Jim Mullen, Reach Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of the NMA, said: “Jo’s appointment to Chief Executive of Newsworks is recognition of the key role she plays in pushing the industry forward, creating collaborative opportunities and promoting the power of news brands to our advertising partners. We are confident Jo will continue to build on the positive momentum she has achieved already.”
Allan has extensive experience in the sector from her client-side roles at Cadbury and AB InBev to agency roles at Carat, Dentsu Aegis Network and Vizeum. More latterly, Jo has acted as a consultant to ISBA, The Ozone Project and Newsworks before joining the organisation fulltime in January 2020.
Jo Allan, Chief Executive, Newsworks, said: “I am really chuffed to be appointed as Chief Executive. But this isn’t just about me, it is recognition for my whole team. We play an important role as a gateway into the industry and through further collaboration we will steer greater opportunities for investment into our trusted news brands. That’s where we will continue to keep our focus, as well as cheerleading for the industry from the front.”
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