Barnardo’s searches for marketer

Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, is searching for a new head of advertising and communications to oversee its hard-hitting publicity campaigns.

Suzanne Heaney, who joined the charity from Royal Mail, has left the post after 18 months to join the corporate marketing team at Barclays Bank.

Heaney played a major part in launching the charity’s headline-grabbing press campaign in January last year, which featured pictures of a baby injecting itself with the drug heroin.

Andrew Nebel, director of marketing and communications, says he is hoping to fill the role by August, when the second wave of press executions for this year’s campaign begins.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has created the latest campaign for the charity, breaking this week.

Five executions feature different people who have suffered as children and subsequently die particularly tragic deaths.

Nebel says the charity plans to challenge complacency and makes no apologies for the often disturbing ads.

He adds: “We always aim to be responsible. We need to show that disadvantaged children can grow up to live tragic lives.”

Nebel says last year’s campaign increased fundraising by £2m as well as significantly increasing spontaneous awareness for the children’s charity.

Nebel adds that he is in discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) advisory board, which expressed reservations over two of the executions.

The ASA board had not received any complaints about the ads as Marketing Week went to press this week.