Brown goods boss to lead Comet marketing

Comet has appointed an internal candidate, Jon Herzberg, as head of marketing, following the promotion of Bob Darke to the board.

Comet has appointed an internal candidate, Jon Herzberg, as head of marketing, following the promotion of Bob Darke to the board.

Darke was promoted to commercial director, with a seat on the board, as part of a management reshuffle two months ago (MW March 2). Darke’s new remit takes in commercial, supply chain and direct channel functions.

Herzberg is head of brown goods at the Kesa Electricals-owned retailer. In his new post he will oversee a team of 50 in the Comet marketing division. He has been tasked with building on the Comet brand relaunch, which took place in August last year.

The electrical retail brand began searching for a marketing chief in March, following the reshuffle, which also promoted managing director Simon Fox to chief operating officer at parent company Kesa Electricals. Deputy managing director of commercial Hugh Harvey took his place. Herzberg will report to Harvey. Herzberg previously worked for Comet as a director of marketing, and for Dixons as a marketing manager in the 1990s. He has also held senior marketing positions at Norweb Retail and SWEB Retail.

Last month Times Newspapers signed a deal with Comet to support the retailer’s World Cup activity; and Woolworths recently entered a joint venture with it. Comet@Woolworths will offer 2,500 lines provided by Comet that can be bought through in-store terminals, online or a telephone ordering service.