ABC appoints former Unilever media chief Wright as chief executive

by Staff, Brand Republic 11-Sep-08, 09:05

LONDON - The Audit Bureau of Circulations has appointed Jerry Wright as its chief executive to replace the departing Chris Boyd.

Boyd leaves the ABC after eight years and Wright will take over next month at the body for auditing, newspaper, magazine and website circulations and audiences.

Wright joins ABC with extensive industry experience gained during a long career at Unilever in the UK and internationally.

From 2004 to 2006 Wright chaired the Unilever UK media trading committee and as part of this oversaw the negotiations relating to Unilever's centralised media planning and buying, managing the transition from Initiative to Mindshare.

Prior to that he was brand director for Unilever's then Birds Eye frozen food business and was Lever Brothers' household products marketing director. He spent a number of years working in China where at 27 he became marketing controller for all of Unilever's food and personal products in China.

Since 2005, Wright has been a member of the ISBA Council and has chaired its sustainability working group.

He left Unilever at the end of 2006 and has since been working as a marketing consultant.

John Mayhead, ABC chairman, said: "Chris Boyd has done a superb job at ABC and this makes him a hard act to follow. I have every confidence that Jerry will continue to develop ABC and his experience of handling media issues will equip him well for this."

Wright said: "I am delighted to be joining ABC at this exciting stage in its development and look forward to building on the excellent work done by Chris Boyd and his team as ABC addresses the future challenges of both the traditional and digital media worlds."

During his time with ABC, Boyd was behind the strategic drive, development and growth of the ABC and ABCe brands. He is also currently global president of the International Federation of ABCs (IFABC) will end his tenure in early November 2008.