New IDM chief to make digital skills gap a priority

The Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) has appointed EHS 4D chairman Terry Hunt as president.

IDM
Hunt: Making digital his mission

The Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) has appointed EHS 4D chairman Terry Hunt as president.

Hunt becomes the training and qualifications provider’s first president since Bill Cockburn stepped down in 2006.

He will work with the IDM Trust chairman Simon Hall and its directors to help “strategically position” the organisation over the next three to five years.

Hunt says he wants to help bridge the digital “skills gap”.

“The fact that the most exciting developments in direct customer marketing are happening in digital media makes the IDM’s mission even more crucial,” he says.

Hunt co-founded direct marketing agency Evans Hunt Scott in 1986. He led the 2002 merger with Brann that resulted in the creation of integrated agency, EHS Brann.

The direct, digital and data agency was re-named EHS 4D in 2009 to reflect its role in the Euro RSCG 4D digital agency network.

Hunt specialises in customer reward and engagement strategies and is said to have been closely involved in the development of Tesco Clubcard.

The IDM claims to be “Europe’s leading body for the professional development of direct, data and digital marketing”. It was founded in 1987 and says it has trained 45,000 marketers on open courses and more than 10,000 through in-company programmes across 28 countries in that time.