News International overhauls marketing team

News International has overhauled its marketing structure in a bid to become “more innovative” and responsive to customer needs.

timesipad

The marketing team will consist of three areas – brand marketing, acquisition and sales and customer management. The three disciplines will be supported by a shared “NI Marketing Communications division”.

Rob Painter will take the role of brand marketing director for The Sun and Suzi Watford brand marketing director for The Times and The Sunday Times.

The acquisition and sales division will be run by a yet to be appointed NI sales director, Chris Duncan will be customer management director and Barnaby Dawe will become marketing communications director.

Times’ marketing director and former BSkyB marketer Alex Lewis will be moving to News Corporation where she will be director, strategy and marketing initiatives, for Europe and Asia.

All directors will report to chief marketing officer, Katie Vanneck-Smith.

Changes to marketing come amid a company wide overhaul that follows the phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World.

The publisher is also making changing to its commercial team. Paul Hayes, the publisher’s commercial managing director, has led the new structure of the director team, which will change from seven directors to three permanent directors and three ‘transition’ directors.

Seven directors – Dominic Carter, trading director; Neil Jones, director of commercial strategy; Claire Myerscough, business intelligence director; Abba Newbery, creative solutions director; Patricia Kill, sales support director; Alex Hole, digital trading director and David German, sales innovation director – have been invited to apply for six new roles.

The new roles include director of advertising strategy, commercial director and director of business services.

The publisher is set to slash 110 jobs. A leaked internal email by Tom Mockridge, who took over from Rebekah Brooks, said …”As you know, our industry is changing rapidly and like other media organisations we must continually evolve how we work. We have been seeking efficiencies for some time and over the last few months 100 vacancies have not been filled. In the period to the end end of this financial year, we expect to reduce the News International workforce by 100 staff positions, out of a workforce of approximately 3,000.”

The publisher is also understood to be developing a “digital business” which will provide 21 jobs. 

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