Media Vehicle picks Rees to be chief exec

The Media Vehicle, the retail media specialist, has appointed former MindShare UK chief executive Simon Rees as chief executive as part of its aggressive expansion plans.

Rees had been without a permanent job since he left MindShare in 2002 (MW July 4, 2002). Rees had been the first UK managing director of MindShare in 1998 after being poached from Carat, where he was deputy managing director. MindShare had just been created out of the merger of J Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather’s media operations.

At MindShare, Rees oversaw wins such as Mazda’s UK media business and Hutchison Whampoa 3G’s media account. He was promoted to chief executive. He was later replaced by Kelly Clark.

At The Media Vehicle, Rees takes the place of Jessica Hatfield, founder and former chief executive. She remains with the company but will become responsible for business development of new retail media channels.

The Media Vehicle, part-owned by Clear Channel, employs more than 240 people at four different locations in Europe. It plans to expand both in the UK and across Europe.

It specialises in selling retail media space such as trolley posters, basket posters and floor posters. It works with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, KwikSave and Somerfield, and claims to contact 78 per cent of households in the UK every month.