Orange axes marketing director post in reshuffle

Orange has scrapped the position of marketing director and rolled the marketing, commercial and IT functions into a single post.

Richard Brennan, group director of product marketing and information services at Orange, has been appointed commercial director in charge of marketing, advertising

and IT.

The mobile phone company has been without a marketing director since last July, when Robert Fallow left amid rumours of a boardroom clash with then director of group commercial activities Bob Fuller.

His departure came after only 15 months in the job and two months after launching a 7m branding campaign. Fallow was the third marketing director since the company’s launch in 1994.

Fuller, now chief operating officer and group director of operations, has been overseeing marketing in the interim.

An Orange spokeswoman denies Brennan’s appointment in the combined role marks the demise of marketing at Orange. “We haven’t had a marketing director for some time and we’ve managed more effectively without one. Because of the precedent set by Fuller, this is a natural progression,” she says.

Brennan will report to Fuller and take responsibility for marketing communications, including the company’s advertising agency WCRS; brand management; new product development; as well as IT and systems.