Vanneck heads Customer Direct at News International

News International has appointed marketer Katie Vanneck to head its new Customer Direct department.

Customer Direct has been created to build direct relationships with News International’s brands, such as The Sun, News of The World, The Times and Sunday Times.

Vanneck now becomes managing director of Customer Direct and will also join the executive team and report to News Corp chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia James Murdoch.

As part of a reorganisation, Customer Direct will be formed from the Digital and Enterprise teams, made up of Times Online, Sun Online, Digital solutions and Enterprise. Customer Data,Times Plus and CRM responsibilities will also be looked after by the new department.

Vanneck was previously interim managing director of digital and new business and sales and marketing director for The Times and The Sunday Times. She is also a former Telegraph Group marketing director.

Murdoch says: “Opportunities for innovation abound in our business, but perhaps nowhere more than in the way that we build direct, valuable and seamless relationships with our customers.”

News International recently appointed Jeremy Schwartz as its chief marketing officer. Marketing director for The Sun and News of the World Roland Agambar left to join Associated Newspapers as chief marketing officer for the Mail titles at the same time.

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