New York — Barely two weeks prior to the second-quarter earnings, AOL is undergoing another management shakeup, and the biggest fish to fry being head of global ad figure “Jeff Levick,” one of Tim Armstrong’s key initial hires, is leaving the company, replaced by his former deputy Ned Brody, AOL’s chief executive told employees on Monday, according to reported by AllThingsD.
Jeff Levick, was one of CEO Tim Armstrong’s essential hires following his appointment to the role in 2009. Prior to their two-year term together at AOL, the pair had worked closely at Google.
Levick, the company’s president of global advertising and strategy, will depart after a six-week transition period, according to the memo obtained by Reuters.
Replacing him is Ned Brody, who is in charge of the company’s advertising network, is now being promoted to the new position of chief revenue officer and president of AOL Advertising, where he will manage the company’s global owned-and-operated advertising, global network business, sales and advertising and publishing products.
“We would not be hitting the pause button this week, we will be on fast-forward,” AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong said in the memo.
In a memo sent to AOL employees today, Armstrong detailed a number of changes to the firm’s ad business organization. The changes — describe in a staff memo issued Monday by Armstrong — are part of a continued effort by AOL to court advertisers and appease investors.
Armstrong wrote, “There are three goals we are hoping to accomplish with Ned in this new position. The first is a consolidated premium strategy for advertisers and publishers. The second is consistent growth in advertising spend across all our properties and networks. The third is a more rigorous approach to advertising and publishing system design.”
In addition to announcing Brody’s new position, AOL also elaborated leadership roles for five sales executives, including Tim Castelli, Wendy MacGregor, Tim Richards and Jim Norton — all of whom are being promoted to senior vice president — besides, Michael O’Connor, who is being promoted to vice president, head of sales and operations.
Apart from these executives — along with Don Kennedy, senior vice president of advertising.com sales, and Chris Heine, senior vice president of advertising operations — are anticipated to form AOL’s sales leadership team moving forward.
Regarding Levick specifically, Armstrong stated, “Jeff assumed one of the toughest jobs in the Internet space when he joined AOL,” and said he helped lead a “shift in perception and quality of the AOL advertising experience.” The extensive reorganization of its ad business suggests that shift was not significant enough, however.
Meanwhile, Lauren Hurvitz, who joined as head of corporate communications to replace Trish Primrose-Wallace, and Kathy Andreasen, the head of human resources, both of whom were hired in October, will also be leaving the company.
In his memo to staff, Armstrong remarked, “The future for AOL is getting brighter and we are on the path of returning AOL to growth.”