Sales Director

Hearst UK strengthens commercial division with three senior appointments. Hearst UK has announced the appointments of Sarah Newton Boyd as Head of Partnership Solutions, Joe Grimsdale as Head of Hearst Global Solutions in the UK, and Sylvain Foucat as Head of Revenue Optimisation. These hires follow the arrival of Alex Unitt as Chief Commercial Officer, whose appointment brought Hearst UK's Client & Agency Sales and Brand Diversification divisions under a single leadership for the first time. In the newly created role of Head of Partnership Solutions, Sarah Newton Boyd will oversee Hearst UK's licensing and commerce partnerships. With over 30 years' experience across media sales, marketing and commercial content, she joins from Haymarket where she was Partnerships Director. Prior to this, Newton Boyd was Managing Director and Co-Owner of CREW Agency Ltd, where she led the development of integrated creative and digital campaigns. She has also held senior positions at organisations including Telegraph Media Group. As Head of Hearst Global Solutions in the UK, Joe Grimsdale will lead the global sales team based in London, delivering multi-market brand activations. Grimsdale joins from Ogury, where he was Global Sales Director and Interim UK Country Director. An experienced commercial leader across tech and advertising, his career spans roles at Spotify, Vevo and Telegraph Media Group. Heading up Hearst UK's newly formed Revenue Optimisation function, Sylvain Foucat will bring together sales enablement, inventory management, strategy and analytics to strengthen commercial performance across all channels. With more than a decade of experience leading data-driven commercial strategy, Foucat joins from BBC Studios, where he was Business Intelligence Director. Newton Boyd, Grimsdale and Foucat join Hearst UK's Commercial Senior Leadership Team, which also includes Jacqueline Euwe, Chief Luxury Officer, who leads Hearst UK's recently launched Luxury Hub; Jamie Doubleday, Head of Client Partners; and Amy Brown, Head of Trading & Agency. Alex Unitt, Chief Commercial Officer, Hearst UK said: "These appointments mark an important step in strengthening Hearst UK's commercial offering and further enhancing the way we collaborate with partners. Sarah, Joe and Sylvain each bring deep expertise across their respective fields, and their leadership will be integral as we continue to accelerate the delivery of fully integrated solutions that connect brands with our engaged communities."

Ogury has launched its persona-based advertising solution on Connected TV, allowing advertisers to activate consistent audience targeting across mobile, desktop and CTV within a single framework. The technology aims to improve brand consideration, recall and preference across touchpoints. The solution uses Ogury's Persona Intelligence technology, which builds audience cohorts using zero-party survey data, contextual signals and payment insights powered by Mastercard. Applied to CTV, it enables advertisers to reach personas beyond traditional genre or demographic targeting. Measurement is supported through partnerships with Happydemics for brand lift studies and Lumen and xpln.ai for attention metrics. The launch comes as US CTV ad spend is projected to reach $45.9 billion by 2028, surpassing linear TV advertising for the first time, according to eMarketer.