Birkner leaves Wings Travel Company as head of business development to take up this position. Her previous work experience includes Primedia Unlimited's group sales and marketing director and Avusa Media's chief sales director.
"The media industry is highly competitive and excellent sales leaders are scarce. Even more difficult is to find managers who are totally committed, passionate and have the highest integrity in their work. We have recruited Birkner because she embodies these values and will certainly add enormous value to newspaper ad sales in general and the company in particular," said Linda Gibson, Ads24 CEO.
"She is a seasoned sales manager with many years' experience of driving revenue for a business. In her time in print media, she worked to stretch targets and was able to consistently stay the pace even when times were really challenging. She headed a team which re-built a sales division to take on additional newspaper titles in the Avusa stable. This required many changes to the way staff approached the sales discipline and also included new relationships to be formed internally and externally."
Birkner said she was excited to begin work at the group and says her true home is in newspaper advertisement sales. She is also excited to be selling on the digital brands as well. "I aim to apply my knowledge and experience in elevating, and to an extent reviving, the newspaper sector in South Africa. With all the changes brought on by the digital revolution, my job is going to provide me with the challenges I need to thrive and grow."
