Owens quits BT as Evans joins

BT business division head of marketing communications Dominic Owens is believed to have left the company.

The news comes in the wake of the appointment of Cellnet brand director Tim Evans as head of brand and corporate communications spanning both BT’s consumer and business divisions.

Last month BT business division marketing director Afshin Mohebbi was promoted to managing director and promptly put Kate Notman in a position senior to Owens.

Owens, who created BT’s “Change the way we work” advertising campaign, joined the telecoms giant as marketing communications manager in October 1996 from Mercury Communications.

Evans’ role will create a central point for the marketing of the two divisions (MW June 11), which has been absent since the 75-strong Customer Communications Unit was disbanded a year ago.

He takes up his new position on September 1 and it is expected that a team of about six people will be appointed to his unit.

A BT spokesman says of Evans’ role: “It will reinforce the BT brand and strengthen the impact of our communications with more commitment to the look and feel of both business and consumer marketing.”

Before joining Cellnet, Evans was head of BT’s brand and reputation unit, responsible for corporate promotion of the BT name.

At Cellnet Evans’ remit was to establish a strong brand identity in the face of competition from rival mobile phone operators Vodafone, Orange and One-2-One.

He most recently launched Cellnet’s “First” initiative – which attempted to eliminate confusion among mobile phone customers – and Easy Life, the company’s pre-payment package.

A spokesman for Cellnet says a successor to Evans has not yet been appointed.