Thus poaches BT Cellnet marketer

Thus, the telecoms and Internet company 50.1 per cent owned by Scottish Power, has poached a BTCellnet marketer to review and consolidate its advertising, believed to be worth up to &£5m.

Pauline Knox has joined Thus as head of brand and planning. She held the same position at BTCellnet for two years, and had previously worked for One 2 One.

At Thus, Knox will be in charge of the company’s advertising under brand marketing director Cynthia Gordon, who joined the company in January from ACC Telecom.

Knox says she will create a brand strategy and consolidate the advertising for Thus, Demon Internet and the company’s other “interactive service” brands – such as Weather Call and Share Call – in one agency.

“It would be a very neat solution if we can get someone to look across the Internet, telecoms and call centres,” says Knox.

She confirms the review will spell the end of the Demon Internet brand: “We need to consolidate everything under the Thus brand.”

The process of formulating an advertising strategy and agency review will be carried out during the next three months.

Knox says the agencies she has inherited include Worth, First Financial, Bates Interactive and Fleming Arthur.

999 Design created the name Thus (formerly Scottish Telecom) as part of the company’s November 1999 float.

Thus has denied involvement in takeover talks amid persistent City speculation.

In July, the company issued a profit warning and earlier this month its first quarter report revealed a negative outlook for the full year.

The news promptly wiped almost a third off the value of the company, and created considerable unease in the telecoms sector.