Tuesday 22 July 2008
Horne conquers MySpace UK/Europe
Natalie Apostolou
MySpace Australia’s founding employee Rebekah Horne has been awarded the key global role of managing director for MySpace UK and Europe.
Her ascension through the News Interactive’s executive ranks has been swift, joining as MySpace Australia and New Zealand’s marketing manager in 2006 and presiding over the local Australian launch in August of that year. Later that year she was promoted to general manager of the newly created Fox Interactive Media division, which includes associated digital properties including film site Rotten Tomatoes, and men’s lifestyle portal Ask Men. Most recently she held the role of vice president Fox Interactive Media.
Horne, 35, starts her new job in September and she will oversee MySpace’s entire European operations which includes a dozen localised country sites, from her London base. Australia and NZ will remain within her remit.
It is understood that the 12 month role will see her travelling extensively to each market, including back to Australia for set periods. Consequently Horne’s role will not be replaced in Australia, with the social networking giant claiming that it is currently well resourced in its executive ranks.
Horne’s strong background in music, as a former EMI and Warner marketing executive and mobility are viewed as key factors to her promotion to MySpace biggest market outside of the US, with MySpace poised to globally re-launch its music proposition in the next quarter with album, merchandising and ticketing download and purchasing options.
A former Optus mobile executive, she is expected to be pivotal to kick starting the European overhaul of its mobile site and content proposition, which will leverage off the widespread adoption of the iPhone and MySpace iPhone developer applications. MySpace European executives have forecast that within five years around half of all its traffic will come via the mobile and has already signed 27 deals in 20 countries for mobile distribution. Analysts estimate that MySpace Europe reaches around 1.4m unique mobile users a month.
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