CNN International executive vice president and chief commercial officer Rani Raad has been promoted to the role of president of CNN International Commercial. 

The role will see Raad continue to handle commercial functions outside of the US, as well as developing Turner International’s programmatic trading strategy. Raad has been leading CNN International Commercial group since 2013.

“I’m excited and passionate about the role that CNN continues to play in today’s fast-changing news and media landscape,” said Raad. “As the world’s news leader, our commitment to innovation underpins our commercial activities as well as the brand’s editorial output.

“I look forward to being part of this change as we bring to market even more sophisticated, data-driven and creative solutions for our wide range of commercial partners.”

Turner International president Gerhard Zeiler praised Raad’s “remarkable” track record in leading a diverse portfolio of commercial activities across international markets.

“He has built a new digital team that is the authority in this space and has transformed the commercial operation for CNN internationally, bringing in a new leadership team to deliver best-in-class and award-winning ad sales solutions as well as re-setting the licensing and content sales businesses to yield a suite of new branded initiatives around the globe,” Zeiler said.

Separately, CNN International has sealed a commercial partnership with Chinese mobile handset maker Huawei , beginning with a 12-week integrated campaign, centring on sponsorship of ‘Connect the World’ in Asia and Latin America.

The campaign will play out through a range of programme sponsorship, on-air weekly segments, vignettes, spot advertising, banner ads and digital components.