The organisation has appointed Jodie Smith as head of partnerships for automotive, leading a specialised team of sales experts with a focus on strengthening relationships in the auto industry by identifying partnership opportunities to drive revenue and value for customers and their businesses.

Ms Smith brings expert knowledge in motors and cutting-edge media solutions. She was previously group account director at McKenzie Partners and before that, head of sales for NSW, QLD and WA at Carsales, and brands and audiences director of Life Media for Fairfax Media.

Gumtree Australia, CarsGuide and Autotrader have also promoted Tim Lloyd, a data and tech advertising specialist, to the role of head of AdTech and Data.

They said that in this role, he will be integral at building world-class solutions through CarsGuide and working closely with clients to deliver commercial products that not only stand out, but break the mould on what people think advertising is.

Mr Lloyd is responsible for turning the data signals from the network’s users into a 360-degree customer view that brand partners can tap into to target their consumers with laser focus.

Dubbed ‘Audience Engine’, this solution gives advertisers greater access to their future and near and in-market customers. Working alongside Mr Lloyd is data solutions manager, Paul Flowers, who will lead engineering innovative dataops for partners.

Gumtree Australia, CarsGuide and Autotrader said that the appointments of Ms Smith and Mr Lloyd will strengthen the media leadership team and bring together expert skills to answer the unique challenges brands and marketers across the country need to face, such as further deprecation of cookies and unprecedented stock shortages.

“As a result, CarsGuide Media is investing in an all-round ecosystem that will help understand their customers better, target them with precision, and keep them engaged long term,” the company said.

Director of Commercial Partnerships, Shannon Fitzpatrick, said: “I am excited to welcome Jodie to the team and see Tim grow into this new role.

“We are building a diverse media team with expertise in data, innovation and insights that addresses our partners’ needs to not only overcome the current environment but design advertising solutions for the future.

“Not only that, we are investing in the best-in-market talent, with a data-first mindset, who can help us achieve our vision of becoming Australia’s best auto and lifestyle advertising audience solution.”

Ms Smith said: “I was first drawn to CarsGuide Media because of the calibre of its people, and the network’s impressive reach. With one-in-three-Australians buying and selling across our lifestyle and motors platforms, we are uniquely placed to have a holistic customer view that allows us to implement forward thinking advertising solutions.

“I’m very much looking forward to combining these insights with my years working in automotive and providing our auto partners with advertising experiences that are based on Australians’ customer journey, that go beyond car buying.”

Jodie Smith (left) and Tim Lloyd

By Neil Dowling