Orange brings back Smith to head sponsorship

Orange UK’s former head of media, Ian Smith (pictured), is stepping in to fill the position of head of sponsorship and brand partnerships. He has been brought in to take over from Hattie Magee, who has gone on maternity leave.

His responsibilities will include leading both the sponsorship strategy in 2009 and running existing partnerships, including the Orange British Academy Film Awards, Glastonbury Festival, Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, Orange RockCorps and Orange unsignedAct with Sony Ericsson.

Smith will report directly to Orange UK’s brand director Justin Billingsley.

Billingsley is responsible for the newly restructured marketing team, which incorporates retail, home, business services and brand departments.

Billingsley says: “Smith has a wealth of experience having headed up media at Orange for three years, working closely with the partnerships team, and from previous roles he has held outside the business making him the perfect candidate to lead our sponsorship strategy through 2009.”

Smith’s appointment is effective immediately.