Nokia hires Sony Ericsson sponsorship chief

Nokia has poached Sony Ericsson sponsorship chief Dean Taylor to head its sponsorship division. He took over the newly created role this week.

His appointment is part of a new push by marketing director Will Harris, following the success of Nokia’s tie-up with Channel 4 music show, The Nokia Green Room. His remit will cover developing its music links as well as moving into navigational maps.

Taylor was sponsorship manager at Sony Ericsson for two years and worked on the handset manufacturer’s global partnerships with MTV and EMAP.

He was previously brand manager for squash brand Robinsons at Britvic and has also worked on marketing agency KLP’s Pepsi account.

Harris admits that Nokia “hasn’t always got the best” out of its sponsorship division. He adds: “But we are trying to avoid the predictable route of football shirts.”

Harris, who was previously marketing director at O2, has been at Nokia since October last year. He replaced Simon Lloyd, who left the mobile manufacturer to go to The Number 118 118. Nokia also restructured its marketing department last December with the appointment of Chris Leong to run its marketing services division (MW December 20, 2007).

Nokia also poached Susan Land from Samsung Mobile as its handsets marketing manager (MW February 28).