David Kirk grabs stake in advertising spending research firm SMI to support overseas expansion

Advertising spending research firm SMI says former Fairfax boss David Kirk is a “perfect fit” for the two-year-old company as it gears up to expand in the US, Europe and North America.

Kirk has been appointed non-executive chairman of SMI after making an investment – reported to be a 10% stake – for an undisclosed amount.

SMI releases a monthly report on the aggregate spending figures of buying agencies to help identify trends in the market.

It caused a stir in the sector when it was founded by Sue Fennessy and Jane Schulze, the former editor of the Australian’s media section, because newspapers, radio and television used to present their own figures, or rely on numbers from Nielsen.

Kirk, who is also chairman of the private equity-owned cinema chain Hoyts, invested in SMI through Bailabor, a fund established last year with businessman Paul Wilson. The fund was set up to provide capital to businesses in the information economy sector – such as online education and electronic media and marketing – and has around 30 investors.

Kirk told SmartCompany that SMI is a well-established growth business which provides a highly valuable service to customers. 

“Sue and the team are pretty well advanced in rolling it out internationally,” he added.

He expressed confidence SMI would be number one in global media data, given the company works hand-in-hand with agencies. “They share in the value, so there’s no incentive to do that with more than one organisation.” 

SMI chief executive, Sue Fennessy, says Kirk had topped a list of prospective chairs when the company did its business plan a couple of years ago.

She says Kirk has a “perfect understanding” of both digital and traditional media, and his appointment follows three or four months of talks.

Fennessy says SMI has “seen itself as a global brand from the start”, saying she has spent about a week a month in the US over the past two years.

“We are on a mission to get really robust data for the media market in as many markets as we can.”

The group announced this year the appointment of former Mediacom chief Anne Parsons as chief of SMI Europe, to be responsible for its European expansion.

Carolyn Fox, former chief operating officer of Zenith Media and then Mediacom, has moved into SMI’s Asia Pacific CEO position.

SMI says it is well placed to capitalise on the rapidly changing media industry – Fennessy says no other company looks at the total market spend, although rivals such as Nielsen provides data it doesn’t, and SMI also doesn’t cover direct advertising spending.

Fennessy argues that wider media choices – in 2007, there were 6,200 mediums across Australia and today there are more than 10,000 – mean it is more important than ever for media owners, media agencies and the investment community to understand the market.

The growth in the number of mediums comes not only from online sites, but digital multi-channels on free-to-air television, she says.

Bailabor’s other investment is webcasting service, Viocorp, whose cornerstone investor was Peter Holmes a Court.

Hoyts, which says it is the largest single-brand movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, had been identified as a potential IPO target although Kirk says this is not on the cards any time soon.