Diners Club UK in TV comeback

Diners Club UK is planning a return to TV advertising after almost a decade, as it strengthens its marketing department and prepares to launch its first credit card.

The company, which launched the first chargecard in 1953, has created five new senior positions in its marketing department and has earmarked 3.5m for above- and below-the-line spend for 1998. It is expected to appoint an advertising agency as part of the new marketing push.

Richard Roche has been ap-pointed as vice-president of marketing and Carol Stanton joins as vice-president of service establishment marketing (targeting businesses which accept the card).

Roche previously worked for private health insurer Prime Health and the Alliance & Leicester group, while Stanton joins from Triangle Communications. She has also worked for sales promotion agency the Marketing Consultancy.

Three more vice-presidents are still to be appointed, including an overall head of sales and marketing.

Roche says: “We are looking at all media opportunities including broadcast.

“There has been underinvestment in the brand and it is not well known enough. This is something we are now looking to rectify.”

Diners Club has seen its share of the market fall in the past ten years because of more widely accepted competitors, such as American Express.