This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 8, 2019 - July 14, 2019

AFTER a false start, Star Media Group Bhd is finally getting a CEO — Andreas Vogiatzakis, who is not from the newsroom but is a prominent veteran in the advertising industry.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be called to serve one of the most influential media groups in Malaysia with deep heritage and strength. As The Star Group sails in the era where consumer is in control and relevant content is of unparalleled importance, I hope to contribute further to the group transformation and strengthen it further for the future,” Vogiatzakis tells The Edge.

The 53-year-old Greek is joining at a time when all traditional media companies are being disrupted by the exodus of readers and advertising revenue to digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.

Star Media was once a force to be reckoned with, with strong profits and a market capitalisation of over RM2.7 billion at its peak.

Sadly, the media giant — which is ultimately controlled by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) — is today a shadow of its former self.

Star Media has been without a permanent leader since Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai retired from his position as group managing director and CEO on Jan 1.

Recall that Wong Eng Teng, chief operating officer of Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd, was set to fill the vacated post. He, however, changed his mind and stayed on at the foreign insurance firm after receiving a counter-offer.

Last Thursday, Star Media concluded the six-month hunt for a new leader by appointing Vogiatzakis as its CEO, with effect from Aug 13.

So, just who is Vogiatzakis? Can the adman turn the tide at Star Media?

Born and raised in rural Crete in Greece, he quit the prestigious Mathematics University of Athens to pursue his passion for advertising at the University of Florida, graduating with high honours.

He began his career at advertising agency DMB&B in New York, the US, and then joined JWT in Athens, Greece, before heading to Asia.

In 1997, Vogiatzakis launched and ran MediaVest Japan. After a short stint as the media director for Nike, Uniqlo and Ben & Jerry’s at Wieden & Kennedy, he joined Publicis to merge MediaVest and Starcom, in partnership with Dentsu.

In 2003, he moved to Taiwan to be the CEO of the Mindshare Group and in October 2006, he relocated to Malaysia to lead Omnicom Media Group.

Vogiatzakis was CEO of Havas Media Malaysia from August 2016 until last month.

Despite having an impressive CV in the advertising industry, he has much to prove at Star Media — the publisher of one of Malaysia’s longest-running English-language print dailies, The Star — as he has no experience as a newsman.

“If Star Media were an advertising outfit, then Andreas would have been the perfect candidate. But advertising is only one part of the group as it still has the print media, radio and video streaming businesses. With a pure advertisement background, I’m not sure if Andreas will be able to manage all that,” says a media analyst.

“Andreas is very well connected, there is no doubt about that. But he is also a very hipster guy, very flamboyant. I’m not sure how he would fit in with an organisation like Star Media, which has a lot of structural problems. It’s not easy to manoeuvre around,” says an industry observer.

Another media analyst points out that even with a strong advertising background, it does not mean that Vogiatzakis would be able to bring in the ad dollars to the group.

He opines that if Star Media’s intention is to transform into a tech-and-entertainment-driven company, the group should have hired someone who specialises in either one of these fields simply because they fall outside the group’s area of expertise.

“Why did they hire an advertising person? They are doubling down on entertainment content and technology, and they lack the expertise in those two areas. What value can Andreas add to the group, really?” he asks.

Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) president Serm Teck Choon, for one, believes that Vogiatzakis could be the man to lead Star Media in its new direction.

“Having held the CEO position in a few media agencies for many years, Andreas is very experienced in advertising and media, with local and regional exposure. Being an ad veteran who is always thinking out of the box, Andreas is familiar with the content and digital strategies as well,” he tells The Edge.

Serm says Vogiatzakis has spent the last 13 years in Malaysia. Apart from his profession, he is actively involved in many associations, serving in several industry advisory panels and is an industry advisory board member of universities and colleges in the country.

“As a people person with so much experience in dealing with different kinds of people all these years, I don’t think he would have an issue manoeuvring around issues such as hierarchy and legacy,” he explains.

It is an interesting time for Malaysia’s media landscape as Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd also has an ex-agency CEO at the helm. Top boss Henry Tan was previously the CEO of Mindshare Malaysia and GroupM (Malaysia and Singapore).

It should be noted that this will not be the first time that a person without newsroom experience is taking the helm at Star Media. Former group managing director and CEO Datin Linda Ngiam has a business development background, for example.

MDA’s Serm opines that Star Media’s board clearly has high hopes that Vogiatzakis will reboot the revenue engine, leveraging his advertising experience and vast network.

The group reported revenue of RM392.68 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY2018). In contrast, it posted annual revenue of over RM1 billion for six consecutive years, between FY2010 and FY2015.

“While restoring it to its heyday will be a challenge as the media landscape has changed drastically, how the media group continually produces relevant content for its audience and executes its digital transformation plan is pivotal to its future success,” Serm comments.

In 2016, Star Media launched an over-the-top video streaming service, dubbed dimsum, that has reportedly burnt RM40 million to RM50 million thus far. It is learnt that some RM100 million had been budgeted for the venture, which was seen as a bold move for a print-focused media group.

“How dimsum can grow to be a sustainable business within the next 12 months and thus contribute to the group’s revenue is one of the key concerns among its shareholders and the investing community,” says Serm.

On a positive note, international players such as The New York Times have grown their digital business steadily over the last few years. NYT saw its online subscription revenue increase nearly 18% and digital advertising rise 8.6% last year.

This has set a benchmark for the media industry globally.

For The Star, how it handles its online subscription and digital advertising will be the key development to watch in the next 12 to 24 months.

Interestingly, The Star had — in an article dated July 1, titled “Advertising sector to remain challenging in H2” — spoken to Vogiatzakis, in his capacity as the CEO of Havas Media Malaysia.

Expecting flattish advertising expenditure (adex) for the year, he reportedly said the trend in digital ad spend would continue but expected the print and other traditional platforms to strengthen their relevance by increasing their meaningful connections with customers.

“If we truly put consumers first, then we need to understand their media journey and consumption, understand the relevancy of the media platforms in their lives, and employ strategically and tactically the ones that enable us to connect better in meaningful ways with them. We cannot see media in isolation,” he said.

Like it or not, as far as Star Media’s financial performance is concerned, the clock is ticking. Only time will tell what big changes Vogiatzakis will bring to the group.

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