John Charcol appoints first e-commerce marketing chief

Charcolonline, the e-commerce arm of mortgage broker John Charcol, has poached McKinsey & Company strategy consultant Maria Davlantes to be its first marketing director.

Reporting to Charcolonline managing director Toby Strauss, Davlantes will develop the brand and oversee its advertising. She will also oversee marketing for the website’s first brand extension into home insurance.

The online mortgage broker, launched in November last year, aims to tap into the burgeoning market for accessing information and buying financial services over the Internet.

Charcolonline has distribution relationships with a range of Internet companies including search engine Lycos and financial services infomediary Interactive Investor International.

Parent company John Charcol has a &£5m advertising budget, the bulk of which is being spent on its online operation. Blowfish Advertising will work on both the online and offline accounts, after DMB&B Financial was dropped after 11 years with the company (MW January 20).