Senior Orange role for ex-Virgin chief

Orange has appointed former Virgin Media executive Steven Day as its chief marketer as part of chief executive Tom Alexander’s major restructure of the mobile operator. Day is seen as the final piece in the jigsaw for the revamped brand.

Day, who moved from Virgin with Alexander, was previously chief of staff and culture at Orange and has now taken the title chief of staff, and brand and communications.

Orange brand director Justin Billingsley will also have a beefed up role as predicted in Marketing Week (MW April 10). He will now take on responsibility for the home, business and retail division in addition to his brand remit. The three divisions were previously handled separately. He will report to Day.

Day takes over the top marketing role from Jean-Pascal Van Overbeke, who was vice-president of mobile and convergence and was responsible for marketing. He is now moving to the role of vice-president of sales and loyalty and will be responsible for Orange’s retention and sales.

Stuart Jackson, director of corporate communications, will also report to Day as part of the overhaul. Orange says the changes signify an “increased look at the brand”, which will unveil a new strapline for its marketing campaign in July.

Orange chief executive Tom Alexander says the divisions have been brought together to signify “one Orange, one brand” and will make the business “more coordinated”.

It is thought that there may be some redundancies in the marketing team as part of wider of restructure. The company announced last week that it would cutting some management roles.