News Corporation appoints Hamish McLennan Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman – Sydney/NYC based, reports to Murdoch + Chase

News Corporation today announced the appointment of Australian Hamish McLennan, the former global CEO of Y&R – who departed the role last year – to the position of Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. McLennan, who will divide his time between New York and Sydney, will report to News Corporation’s Chairman & CEO Rupert Murdoch and President & COO Chase Carey.

During his five years based in New York, McLennan lived close to Murdoch and became friends. McLennan invited him to the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival where they discussed on stage how Murdoch transformed the shape of media and marketing with News Corporation’s extraordinary group of assets.

In this newly created role, McLennan will be responsible for developing and enhancing News Corporation’s large-scale, global brand partnerships in order to maximize revenue derived from the Company’s deep portfolio of media assets. McLennan will collaborate closely with senior business leaders across News Corporation to strengthen the Company’s rich and sustainable marketing alliances, and better position its core assets – and their digital extensions- for today’s global marketplace.

Before joining Y&R, McLennan worked for George Patterson Bates in a number of capacities in Sydney, Hong Kong and Melbourne, eventually ascending to the post of National Managing Director in 1999. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Ad Council and acted as a mentor for the World Economic Forum in Davos. McLennan has also served on the board of the United Negro College Fund.

“As we grow our international footprint we see a real opportunity to bolster the value of our brand partnerships and I am convinced that Hamish’s considerable industry experience, coupled with a unique and wide-ranging strategic vision, make him the right executive to deliver the insights we need to maximize our global media investments,” commented Rupert Murdoch.

Chase Carey said: “Around the world, our clients are developing marketing programs that are increasingly targeting consumers globally and on digital platforms. Hamish’s expertise, along with his global media business background, will be invaluable assets as we work to deepen our brand partnerships across the Company.”

“I am pleased to be joining such an innovative media company and am grateful to Rupert and Chase for their confidence and support,” commented Hamish McLennan. “We have a unique opportunity to more aggressively position News Corporation’s peerless content businesses and further develop existing – and untapped – global brand relationships.”

As Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam, he led the firm’s global business operations starting in 2006 and delivered the two most profitable years in the company’s history. McLennan was responsible for 6,500 people in 186 offices in 81 countries and, under his leadership, Y&R won such clients such as Goldman Sachs and LG, and was intimately involved in the consolidation of a number of other key clients including Dell and Virgin Atlantic.

Other key clients of Y&R included Ford, Colgate, Xerox, Campbell Soup and Land Rover. In 2010, Y&R NY was voted the top creative agency in the U.S. at Cannes, and also won Network of the Year honors that same year at the New York Festivals, the Art Directors Club and the London International Festival.

From 2002 to 2006, McLennan was Chairman and CEO of Y&R Australia/New Zealand, leading the acquisition of his former agency – George Patterson Bates – to form George Patterson Y&R.