New owner restructures Fort James marketing

UK soft tissue manufacturer, Fort James, has restructured its marketing and sales departments, in an effort to be “more customer focused”.

The restructuring within the company will involve changes in job titles and responsibilities and also an expansion of the marketing department – now called the category department.

Marketing head Steve Duncan’s role has been expanded to include private labels, brand management and trade marketing. He will now be called the category director and will continue to report to the managing director, Fort James, Richard Bourdon.

The restructuring follows the acquisition of Fort James by Georgia-Pacific, a US-based tissue products manufacturer. It is likely that the business will change its name to Georgia-Pacific UK.

Duncan will also head the three product groups within the company – toilet tissues; household tissues, which include kitchen towels; and health and beauty tissues, including facial tissues.

Duncan says: “Marketing functions need to evolve. The company is simply working towards being more consumer oriented”.

The sales team, over seen by Philip Plotkin, and now called the business team, will be responsible for “strategic development of each of the company’s customers”. The team’s functions will include sales promotions of new and existing products.

Fort James brands include Nouvelle tissues, Kittensoft range and Dixcel range. Well-known Georgia-Pacific consumer brands in the US include Sparkle and Coronet.

This week Fort James launched its first product based web-site called www.softonyou.com – an interactive website on toilet tissue Nouvelle.