Ericsson forges global youth image
Ericsson UK channel marketing manager Vijay Anand has been appointed to a newly created global youth marketing role within the Swedish mobile manufacturer.
Anand has been with Ericsson for six years, after being recruited from its then agency, Bates Dorland, where he worked on the mobile manufacturer’s account.
He has been responsible for masterminding Ericsson’s youth marketing strategy in the UK and will now take on a similar role for the company worldwide from the beginning of January 2001. A title for the role has yet to be decided.
Anand says: “Five years ago I had total belief that young people would be interested in mobile technology at a time when the networks were not targeting the youth market. We embarked on a long-term strategy that has grown and developed.
“In my new role I will be looking at youth marketing on a global level, looking at how we can move forward.”
In 1995 and 1996 Anand organised several Ericsson-sponsored underground club nights and by 1998 had arranged a deal to sponsor IPC’s influential Muzik magazine dance awards, a continuing partnership.
The breakthrough deal was Ericsson’s sponsorship of the first Homelands dance music festival in 1999. This year, Anand negotiated for Channel 4 to broadcast both the Muzik awards and Ericsson@homelands for the first time.
