Duracell names marketing chief

BYLN: By Tom O’Sullivan

Battery manufacturer Duracell UK has picked Glyn Harper to replace Gary Ferguson as marketing director.

Harper – currently European category leader at Scott Paper – joins Duracell next month and will be in charge of a 10m marketing budget, of which advertising accounts for 2.6m (Register-MEAL).

He will also be responsible for sustaining the growth of the brand against rival battery giant Ever Ready. The total market is valued at 460m by value.

Ferguson left Duracell in February to join Fox video as managing director (MW February 10).

According to the latest Nielsen figures, Duracell holds 32 per cent by volume of the UK market, an increase from 28 per cent in 1993.

The most active part of the market has been the alkaline battery sector, where Ever Ready launched its Energiser Hi-Energy lithium battery last summer and Duracell countered with its Xtra Active range.

Ever Ready has recently centralised its marketing department in Geneva.

The company’s former UK marketing director Martin Burch has moved to Geneva and now has responsibility for co-ordinating all pan-European advertising, sponsorship and media work.

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