Vodafone restructures and appoints Bamford as global marketing chief

Mobile phone company Vodafone has promoted the chief executive of its northern European operations, Peter Bamford, to the role of global chief marketing officer following a top-level management shake-up.

The company’s operations have been split into two global business units – marketing and new technology – a month prior to the departure of chief executive Sir Christopher Gent. Director of global products and services Thomas Geitner has been promoted to chief technology officer.

The restructure has not affected the roles of chief executive Gavin Darby and marketing director Lance Batchelor, or global brand manager David Haynes, but all three will now report to Bamford.

The restructure, which is ahead of the arrival of new chief executive Arun Sarin, who joins Vodafone later this summer, is being seen as an effort to make the company more responsive in a competitive market. It is thought to have been made to strengthen Vodafone’s position ahead of launching new services and technology, such as 3G.

Vodafone launched its picture messaging service under the banner Vodafone Live!, last autumn. The package also included a range of other features such as mobile internet gaming and colour browsing. It was supported by a heavyweight above-the-line campaign, which featured David Beckham and Ferrari Formula One driver Michael Schumacher.