O2 to shed 10% of marketing team

O2 has placed its entire 220-strong marketing department into consultation in a process that aims to reduce the headcount by 10%.

The procedure began in September and will come to a conclusion by the end of this month.

O2 UK chief executive Ronan Dunne denies that the redundancy programme is about cutting costs, but rather about “investing in areas of the business that the customers most value”.

The move, according to Dunne, signals a new structure for the business that is designed to enable O2 to operate more effectively in its planned new growth sectors of financial services, healthcare and education (as revealed exclusively on Marketingweek.co.uk earlier this month), as well as new offerings that have already launched, such as O2 Broadband.

“We’re in a fast-moving business. If you are customer led, the changes you make are those that take you along with customers and keep you close to them.

“Whether we are talking about resources, or whether we are talking about reaching out into new businesses areas, these are the criteria that we use.”

O2 uses VCCP as its lead creative agency and has done since the agency worked with O2 on developing original branding and positioning. Other agencies on the O2 roster include Archibald Ingall Stretton, Agency Republic and PD3.