Ministry of Sound drops marketers

Senior marketers at nightclub and record business Ministry of Sound (MoS) are stepping down following a six-month brand review.

Enterprise IG carried out the review of the company’s positioning and strategy, and as a result MoS brand and commercial director CM Harper and head of strategic partnerships Nick Whitehurst are leaving. In addition, four people in the sponsorship division have been made redundant.

A spokesman for the company says MoS will be seeking to develop long-term strategic brand partnerships. He adds: “Maybe we have done deals in the past that have not been the most sensible thing for the brand.”

MoS is organising its business into three divisions: brand, international and marketing. The brand team will look after product, licensing, design and the MoS website; the marketing division will seek to form long-term relationships with suitable brands and the international division will look after touring, radio and non-UK compilation albums.

Three new marketing appointments will be made, but titles and responsibilities have yet to be decided.

MoS is battling against waning interest in dance music and clubbing. The company’s record interests have been more successful and it is launching a new label, Open, in February.

The company maintains that its failed style magazine Trash, a joint venture with Condé Nast which published one issue in August, will return next year as a quarterly under the revived name Ministry.