Alan Cox is stepping down as chief executive of Core to launch a software practice focused on business transformation. Following a succession process, led by Core chairman Patrick Coveney, deputy CEO Aidan Greene will become the new CEO from the start of April. Over the past 15 years, Core has become Ireland’s foremost marketing communications company.
Core’s services extend across media buying (Starcom, Spark Foundry, Mediaworks, Zenith), research, creative, data, investment, sponsorship and learning. Cox worked with the Association of Advertisers (AAI) and economists Jim Power and Chris Johns in publishing Marketing Multiplied, an in-depth analysis of the economic impacts of marketing.
Commenting on his decision to leave Core, Cox said that his experience in the planning and management of Core’s transformation strategy in recent years ignited an intense interest in this field which he now intends to pursue. He described Aidan Greene as an “exceptional practitioner and a brilliant leader”, who will bring a new perspective to the business.
Role
Cox has extensive advertising and media experience. He worked with Peter Owens, Bell Advertising and Carat before setting up Core and has been involved with industry bodies like the AAI, Marketing Institute and Marketing Society over many years. He has always been at the forefront of making bold statements about the role of advertising and marketing.
His address at the Marketing Institute CMO conference a few years ago drew wide attention. He emphasised the need to raise marketing standards in Ireland by launching a formal programme for continued professional development. The institute subsequently introduced a global marketing leadership programme with Berkeley at the University of California.
With nearly three decades of experience, Greene was previously the managing director of media planning and buying agency, MediaVest, since rebranded as Spark Foundry. He launched the direct response media agency, Clear Blue Water, in 2005, before taking the reins of MediaVest in 2007. He has also worked in Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) and Carat.
He spent two years as president of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners of Ireland (IAPI) and is currently chairperson of the board of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. He has lectured in the Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU Dublin) and the Fitzwilliam Institute. Greene and Cox are pictured above in the Core offices.
