Swedish Match hires Bic man for UK role
Swedish Match has appointed Gareth Piers Newton to the newly created role of UK category marketing controller for the cigar and smokeless tobacco products business.
The role carries full responsibility for advertising and agency relationships, and covers both consumer and trade marketing.
Swedish Match is a global company, with brands including Bryant & May, Swan and Cricket.
In the past, the consumer and trade marketing roles were split. However, marketing director Simon Duggan was made UK managing director last year (MW February 28, 2002), while trade marketing manager Duncan Kerr left in late 2001. Duggan has been overseeing marketing since his promotion.
Piers Newton joins from Bic, where he was category marketing manager. He was previously European brand manager at Hasbro.
A spokeswoman for Swedish Match says Piers Newton’s first priority will be to focus on trade activity, with consumer marketing plans not being considered until later in the year.
Swedish Match has not carried out any consumer advertising since early 2001, when Grey created a Bryant & May press campaign. Media planning and buying was handled by MediaCom. Youth marketing agency Iris developed a Swan website in May 2001 to promote the brand to students.
