Electronic Arts reshuffles team

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Computer games giant Electronic Arts (EA) has reshuffled its UK marketing team and is about to begin a &£2.5m ad campaign to mark the release of its summer games.

Keith Ramsdale, previously sales director for the company, has been made UK marketing director. Ramsdale will work with former UK marketing chief Roy Meredith, who has been promoted to marketing director for EA’s Northern region, which includes the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Both Ramsdale and Meredith will report to Paul Jackson, managing director for UK and the Northern region.

Meredith will attempt to expand EA’s European marketing efforts to include a wider entertainment remit. The company is hunting for partners in music and film to cross-promote its computer games.

EA has already forged strong links with the film industry. The company will launch a computer game version of this summer’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. The game will be backed by a television and print ad campaign worth over &£1.5m. UEFA Euro 2004, which EA launched last month with a &£1m ad spend, has been the best-selling game in the UK for the past two weeks.

The UK marketing changes complete a wider overhaul of the company’s European team. It has appointed former Disney executive Patrick Alo as director for marketing communications, replacing former European director for consumer marketing Al King (MW April 29).

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