Independent communications specialist The Freethinking Group (TFG), parent company of media buying agency Republic of Media, has announced the appointment of Simon Crunden to the newly created role of Chief Executive Officer. Simon serves as Managing Director of Republic of Media and will continue in that role alongside his new position as CEO of the group. Stuart Feather, formerly MD of TFG and founder of Republic of Media, will move to a new position as Chair of TFG.
The Freethinking Group reported turnover in excess of £100million in 2021 and 2022 from wholly-owned businesses Republic of Media, intelligence22 and Rommatic. Republic of Media works with clients including bet365, Magners Cider, The Scottish Government, Beaverbrooks, Whyte & Mackay, Crown Commercial Services and Landsec to deliver paid communications campaigns from offices in Manchester and Edinburgh. Republic of Media was named Marketing Society Scotland Star Agency of the Year 2022. The Group, which employs 76 people, includes wholly owned subsidiaries intelligence22 and Rommatic who provide complimentary data visualisation, analytics and programmatic media trading services respectively.
Simon Crunden, CEO commented “I’m delighted to be taking on a new group CEO role at an exciting time for The Freethinking Group. Republic of Media is in a period of significant growth, while Intelligence22 and Rommatic have both expanded their offering beyond RoM clients in 2022. TFG is a unique offering as a wholly independent family of media, digital and technology businesses and we’re extremely confident about both organic and M&A based growth potential in 2023.”
To further strengthen their senior team, TFG has also announced the appointment of an experienced Non-Executive Director to its board. Rory Paterson, Global Vice President of Media at travel company Expedia Group, joins the business at a time of significant expansion and billings growth.
Paterson brings more than 20 years of digital and tech-focused media experience starting at Bigmouthmedia in 2001, before going on to build the digital team at Mediacom Edinburgh, where he served on the Regional Board and London Digital Board. He founded Ampelm, an independent consultancy and pre-investment due diligence service, advising and investing in companies including Tesco Group/Dunnhumby, MiQ, Captify and Panoramic Growth Equity, TVSquared (exit), Phrasee (exit) and AppSumer (exit). He joined Expedia 7 years ago to create a client-side programmatic team and is now Global Vice President of Media, leading an in-house/hybrid media organisation responsible for planning & buying global media on behalf of Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Simon Crunden, commented “Rory is an executive of global stature leading some of the most significant media projects worldwide. It is a coup and a major milestone for TFG and Republic of Media to have brought him on to the board. His experience in digital transformation and AdTech investments is unmatched and he will add a huge amount of value to our growing group with ambitions that match our own”.
Rory commented: “Today’s market offers vast opportunity for TFG, who have established themselves as a top 3 UK media independent by delivering outsized returns for their clients through sharp strategy and no-nonsense delivery. I’m delighted to join Simon, Stuart and their formidable team for the next phase of growth, including the development of a strategic portfolio of complimentary capital investments and acquisition targets to fuel TFG’s bullish plans”.
