Mumbrella announces new editorial direction
Mumbrella has announced a new editorial strategy, as editorial director Damian Francis departs to take on a significant role outside of the business.
Stepping in short term to help Mumbrella continue its strong growth this year is the team from Fear & Greed, Australia’s leading business podcast run by three well known media industry professionals, Sean Aylmer, Michael Thompson and Adam Lang.
Thompson, Lang and Aylmer
Aylmer and Thompson specifically will be hands on with Mumbrella’s content products, starting next week.
Francis, meanwhile, will depart on August 17. He will be leaving to take on the role of editorial director at Business Publishing Group, publisher of Travel Daily, Cruise Weekly and Pharmacy Daily, reporting into newly announced general manager, Davy Adams.
During his second stint at Mumbrella, he helped bring back a significant number of international speakers to Mumbrella360, recorded the second highest amount of entries in Mumbrella Awards history and refocused the editorial strategy across the daily newsletter output.
While the news signifies two editorial changes in a week for Mumbrella, they are in no way related to each other.
Mike Morris, head of commercial strategy at Diversified Communications, thanked Francis for his significant input and was confident that the addition of Fear & Greed would ensure a good transition.
“We acknowledge this additional change is unexpected, and the timing is unfortunate. But we have a detailed plan in place to deal with this and continue to serve our community well. The remaining 2023 events are set up for success, after which we have time to look ahead to 2024 and plan for on-going success.
Francis
“We are sad to see Damian depart Mumbrella. He has shown great leadership during his tenure and is hugely respected by both his colleagues and the market. More importantly, he is a good friend of Mumbrella and will remain so into the future.
“His contribution was clearly demonstrated by the unrivalled content and coverage from the recent Mumbrella360 conference and confirmed by the significant interest in last week’s Mumbrella Awards. More broadly, his knowledge, understanding and work ethic will be missed.”
Francis added, “I have absolutely loved my time at Mumbrella. The team, as well as the wider Diversified Communications business, will always have my support. I’ve spent more than five years at Mumbrella and have enjoyed every bit of it. While part two was short, I was presented with an opportunity that I simply couldn’t refuse, and I am particularly grateful to the team here for their understanding.
“Mumbrella is still the leader in the media and marketing trade space. It has the best events by far, the most relevant editorial and a team of immensely dedicated staff that will continue to grow the business. I am looking forward to watching what Mumbrella does with the backing of Diversified Communications and with Fear & Greed, and have no doubt I will be in the crowd at some of their events and awards moving forward.”
Mumbrella360
Fear & Greed’s Aylmer and Thompson will work closely with the editorial team to continue the lead reporting on the media and marketing industry which is one of the most competitive sectors in publishing.
Morris said that having Fear & Greed support Mumbrella in the short term was a significant positive and clear indication of intent to continue to lead the media and marketing landscape.
“We’re delighted to add the experience and editorial expertise of Sean, Michael and Adam to Mumbrella,” he said. “Their media and publishing knowledge is unmatched and adding this strong leadership will also help the business to evolve while we continue to deliver the best information and service to the Mumbrella audience.”
Fear & Greed will also take on responsibility for production and distribution of the Mumbrellacast beginning next week, adding to the quality and scale of Australia’s leading media and marketing podcast.
As such, there will be no episode of the Mumbrellacast this week.
Francis will continue to work closely with the team as well as Fear & Greed prior to his departure and will also be at the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit on August 17.
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