Global content creator, producer and distributor Endemol Shine Group announced the appointment of Wim Ponnet as Group Director of Strategy & Commercial Development. Wim joins Endemol Shine Group from Yahoo EMEA where he has been Senior Director, Strategy & Operations since 2011, responsible for driving the company’s strategic planning and business development across the region. This has included identifying and pursuing opportunities for M&A, commercial partnerships and expansion into new markets, whilst evaluating and exploiting trends in the marketplace.
Wim’s previous roles have included a number of senior positions at Coca Cola in Switzerland, including managing projects and planning across host cities and venues for UEFA Euro 2008 and overseeing a portfolio of national and international accounts.
As Group Director of Strategy & Commercial Development Wim will be responsible for defining and implementing Endemol Shine Group’s global strategy, working closely with the company’s local leaders and partners around the world and reporting directly to CEO Sophie Turner Laing. This will include identifying and pursuing new business opportunities, including acquisitions and expansion into new markets, whilst tracking and leveraging market trends.
His remit will include overseeing the Group’s commercial, M&A, Endemol Beyond and research teams, led respectively by Dearbhail Bannigan, Director of Group M&A; Georg Ramme, Global Managing Director, Endemol Beyond; Branco Scherer, Global Managing Director, Commercial Partnerships; and Doug Wood, Group Director, Research & Insight.
Sophie Turner Laing comments: “Wim’s wealth of experience and expertise make him ideally suited to shape and drive our long term strategic goals. His role will be essential to keeping us at the forefront of innovation in content creation, production and distribution as we continue to grow our business and equip ourselves for the future.”
Wim Ponnet comments: “Endemol Shine Group is one of the most dynamic and exciting companies in the industry. It combines global reach with an extraordinary diversity of content, creativity and expertise from around the world, all connected by a unique international network. The business is strongly positioned to build on its world leading status in the evolving marketplace and I’m looking forward enormously to working with the outstanding talent across the Group.”
Wim will take up his role as Group Director of Strategy & Commercial Development this autumn and will work out of Endemol Shine Group’s offices in London and Amsterdam.
