IAG marketer Zara Curtis has called time on more than six years at the parent company of NRMA Insurance, CGU and ROLLiN', returning to her media industry roots to step into the newly created role of Chief Content Officer (CCO) for Mamamia.

Currently IAG's Head of Customer Experience, Brand & Social Impact, first joined the insurance group as Director of Content in 2018. In October she wrapped up a year long stint acting in the Chief Marketing Officer role before the permanent appointment of Michelle Klein. It came after Brent Smart left the CMO remit to take up the same role at telecom giant Telstra.

Curtis' appointment comes amidst a moment of significant change at the women's media company, with Nat Harvey last month promoted into the role of Chief Executive Officer, as co-founder Jason Lavigne transitioned into the role of Executive Chair.

She joins a newly expanded content team and the women's media brand, which includes recently promoted Eliza Sorman-Nilsson as Head of Content, new appointment Jocelin Abbey as Head of Audience Development, with Jessie-Lee Klass as Podcast Content Director and Harrie Jack as Creative Director. Valentina Todoroska was also recently promoted into the role of Editor in Chief.

Meanwhile, Mamamia's co-founder, Mia Freedman, is officially moving into the Chief Creative Officer role. “Zara and I worked incredibly closely back in the golden era of magazines and I am delighted to be reuniting with her at Mamamia. We have always shared a love of women’s media and the unrivalled power it has to influence culture, behaviour, and purchasing decisions. For many years we have been looking for the right person for this role and I couldn’t be more excited to be working alongside someone I admire and trust so much and who ‘gets’ our brand so instinctively," said Freedman.

Prior to IAG, Zara Curtis' career spans roles across media and marketing roles, with a collective 20 years of experience in content, creative, and marketing teams. She was previously Commercial Director of News Lifestyle Media, General Manager Branded Entertainment & Commercial at Fremantle Productions, and spent close to a decade in various roles at Bauer Media.

Natalie Harvey, CEO of Mamamia, praised the expanded content team. "We have an incredible content team who are at the leading edge of culture, creating hours of content on site, podcasts, and social every day. The recent promotions of Eliza Sorman-Nilsson & Valentina Todoroska and new roles including Jocelin Abbey joining to drive audience growth will add considerable fuel to our brilliant team," she said. "There is so much opportunity for a modern media business like Mamamia and Zara’s diverse experience will be a huge asset for our team as we accelerate into the future, building on the incredible engagement & enormous scale we already have."

Curtissaid she had long been inspired by Mamamia’s purpose “to make the world a better place for women & girls”, noting her passionate belief in the role of independent publishing to authentically deliver on such an important mission. "Today Mamamia has earned the trust of 7 million Australian women’s ears & eyeballs and is the number one podcast network for women in the world, so for me, I’m fired up and thrilled to be joining Mamamia as Chief Content Officer to really focus on growing audiences across every platform and deepen every single engagement as I lead some of the most talented journalists, producers, and storytellers in the country."