Nicola Drago will take over from Marco Ferrari as CEO of Zodiak Active, the digital and branded content division of European production giant Zodiak Media, at the end of this year.
The move, which was anticipated, will see Ferrari exit the company he helped build. The Italian media entrepreneur set up the digital firm Neo Network 14 years ago. In 2007, Italian media group and Zodiak Media owner De Agostini bought Neo Network, and Ferarri was appointed chief digital officer of the company’s Zodiak Entertainment division. In 2011, Zodiak merged Neo Network with British operation RDF Contact to form Zodiak Active, which Ferrari ran as chairman and CEO.
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Drago, whose background is in investment banking, joined Zodiak Media in 2008 and has held several positions at the group, most recently as SVP of strategy and new business at Zodiak Active.
The division, which produces branded and digital content for such brands as the BBC, Microsoft, Sony, Toyota and Ferrari, has an annual turnover of around $47 million.
Zodiak Media, whose properties include feature films The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Inbetweeners and reality formats Wife Swap and The Secret Millionaire, has annual revenues of some $800 million.
