Apple picks marketing director in UK reshuffle

Apple Computer has appointed Alan Hely as its UK marketing director, as part of the worldwide rationalisation of the ailing company which began in March.

The company says that Hely’s job will be to bring “a harder edge” to Apple’s marketing department, as well as to launch products faster.

Hely, who has been with Apple for two years, moves from his position as European marketing manager to take this post. He replaces Nigel Turner, who was promoted to vice president marketing for Europe last month.

Before joining Apple, Hely was head of marketing at Radio Rentals.

Apple, one of the best known brands in the world, has been in continuous decline, in terms of market share and profits, since the late-Eighties. Last year, the company made a net loss of 510m compared with a net profit of 265m in 1995.

These losses are a result of strong competition from rivals like IBM, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

The response of Apple chairman and chief executive Gilbert Amelio has been to cut 2,700 of the 13,000 jobs throughout the company, as well as to focus on the sectors where it leads the market – education and publishing.

However, in the UK, restructuring has only reduced the Apple workforce from 134 to 118 so far.

Apple UK will begin a new “Only Apple” advertising campaign at the end of this month, which will combine advertising for new product launches as well as a brand-building initiative.