John Brown international chief heads Kids division

John Brown Group has promoted international development director Alex Silcox to the new role of managing director of its Kids business.

The move comes as the publisher looks to offer brands more opportunities to engage “more responsibly” with children through content.

John Brown Kids produces print and digital content for various companies including Disney, Dorling Kindersley, Sky and Waitrose. A spokeswoman says/ “Given the influence kids have on major purchases, brands need to look harder at this key group of consumers. As marketing to kids becomes even more fraught with legislation, companies like us can help ensure that a brand talks relevantly, engagingly and above all, responsibly, with children.”

The brief for Silcox will be to make the Kids business a distinct and independent element in the John Brown Group. He will continue in his international role in addition to his new responsibilities.

Last year, John Brown Kids produced a magazine for Emirates Airlines. The title, distributed on Emirates flights, had two sections – one targeting the pre-teen market and the other aimed at pre-school children.

Silcox says: “Along with magazine work we do for Sky, Emirates and Plan UK we also produce content for all the big packaging and partwork companies.”