Action 2000 to appoint bug marketer

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A new post of marketing director has been created at the DTI-sponsored Action 2000, set up to advise businesses about the millennium bug.

Niki Akhurst, former European marketing manager at controversial lottery company GTech, has been appointed to raise the profile of the body’s Millennium Bug Campaign.

Strategic marketing for Action 2000 is handled by BMP DDB and DM specialist WWAV Rapp Collins.

It is expected that a pitch will soon be held for the account as the consortium’s four-month contract expired at the end of March. The various partners are continuing to handle work for Action 2000.

On Monday, Tony Blair announced an increase in Action 2000’s budget from 1m to 17m.

It is expected that Akhurst will use some of the extra funds in a communications campaign aimed at getting businesses to tackle the bug.

The Millennium Bug Campaign is aimed at persuading UK businesses to tackle the “bug”, which exists because some computers recognise only the last two digits of a date, rather than all four.

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