EMAP hunts first group ad sales director

EMAP Consumer Magazines is to appoint its first corporate sales and marketing director.

The position, which will be responsible for group advertising across all titles from Elle to FHM, will report to EMAP Magazines’ chief executive, Tom Moloney.

The new director will also have responsibility for research and marketing support for sales teams, providing added-value services for advertisers and agencies, in addition to making group presentations.

Barbara Patterson, publisher of EMAP’s teenage titles, is tipped by insiders for the role, but she denies knowledge of any such position.

EMAP has followed a federal structure for its magazine groups, eschewing a corporate sales role.

Sales teams are often worried that a corporate sales director will simply bring in the same advertising, but at a cheaper rate, bypassing their sales commission. “If it’s going to work, it’s got to bring in new money,” says one EMAP source.