Maximum Media adds to brand strategy and planning team

Maximum Media has hired Diageo marketer Paul Dunkin as its brand strategy director, while Ian Howard is joining the Irish digital media company from Communicorp as its planning director.

The company behind the JOE, SportsJOE, Her and HerFamily websites has signalled that it will invest “heavily” in 2018 as it seeks to further ramp up engagement with its content.

Mr Dunkin has worked for drinks giant Diageo for five years, working on Guinness's sponsorship of rugby in the UK and Ireland and later the marketing of Smirnoff vodka in Europe. Mr Howard was previously head of creative for Denis O'Brien's radio group Communicorp.

Maria Scannell, who was appointed chief commercial officer in November, has left the company after two months to pursue other opportunities.

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Maximum Media founder Niall McGarry has said he does not expect that Maximum’s brands, which depend on social media channels for distribution, will be negatively affected by changes to Facebook’s news feed algorithm announced earlier this month.

Mr McGarry told The Irish Times in December that Maximum was on track to record revenues of just under €8 million for its Irish business in 2017 and a net profit of about €1.7 million.

The company, which also operates in the UK market, picked up an award for “best use of video content” for the JOE Show and SportsJOE Live at the Digiday Awards Europe in London this week.

*This story was updated on January 26th.