AOL has promoted its former head of business operations, Brad Cressman to managing director of its Canadian office as Joe Strolz becomes head of Americas.
The company confirmed the appointments exclusively to Marketing and said Cressman had played a large role in the launch of Huffington Post Canada, as well as the creation of its studio devoted to original video content, among other areas.
Strolz, meanwhile, will be specifically growing the company’s Latin American operation and other areas outside of the United States.
In an interview, Cressman said his operational role has given him wide exposure to the systems, technologies and teams that make the company work.
“It was really being focused in the nitty gritty of the day,” he said. “Having known what those groups have been through and how we’re set up today is a great jumping-off point.”
Cressman is taking on the Canadian leadership at a time when AOL is trying to simplify the way its customers access products and services, such as programmatic buying tools or creative tools. Over the past year, for example, the company has introduced One By AOL: Creative and One By AOL: Publishers. This brings cohesion to the way sales teams are organized, he said, while offering more dedicated resources where they are needed most.
“It’s more of a client-first approach to the business an not a focus on our products,” he said.
Given that he’s already worked at AOL for six years, Cressman said his first 100 days as managing director will be influenced by what he’s already experienced there. This includes a major focus on the internal culture and people, making sure they feel challenged and fulfilled. The second aspect will be getting out of the office as much as possible and meeting with key customers and partners, he added.
Cressman said his previous experience with organizations like Nestle showed him the value of being able to work within a multinational company while paying close attention to the local strategy.
“I was attracted [to Nestle] by the fact that Canada was quite autonomous and we were able to do things for our own market and be innovative in our own ways to consumers. That attracted me to AOL as well, to work with Graham [Moysey, head of international, AOL],” he said. “The way it’s been for the past few years is really about leveraging the machine in the U.S., to pull the best parts from it, leverage resources, but operate in a way here that is relevant to customers.”
