Sanyo moves marketer on to the board

Sanyo has promoted John Boyle, general manager of its commercial division, to sales and marketing director for the unit. He is now a director of the company.

Boyle will oversee a new strategic focus on business-to-business customers, new product development and expansion of the current commercial product range, which consists mainly of presentation equipment.

Boyle will oversee a &£5m marketing budget, currently used in-house. He says he is keeping an open mind about appointing an agency.

The electronics giant spends about 60 per cent of its marketing budget on above-the-line activity.

Sanyo and Sharp announced this week that they are to team up in an effort to cut research and development costs in the white-goods sector.

The joint venture does not involve equity, but is similar to the deal between Matsushita Electric Industrial and Hitachi announced in May this year, aimed at developing common parts for home appliances.