St John Ambulance recruits former YouView marketer
St John Ambulance has hired Steve Conway, YouView’s interim marketing and PR director, to the role of director of brand marketing, communications and fundraising.
By Sarah Vizard
He will be responsible for increasing awareness and understanding of the St John Ambulance brand, encouraging the public to learn first aid and increasing the charity’s fundraising income. He will report directly to CEO Sue Killen.
Conway joined YouView in April 2012 and has previously held marketing, communications and brand management roles at companies including Kraft, Danone, the BBC and Whitbread. YouView is currently recruiting for his replacement.
Conway replaces Scott Jacobson, who joined St John Ambulance in the newly created role in 2009 but left in July. The charity has recently completed a major restructure and plans to reduce its 2012 deficit of £7.5m to £4.5m this year, with the aim of breaking even over the next few years.
“I am delighted to be joining St John Ambulance and a brand that has such enormous heritage and affection among the British public. I look forward to helping accelerate our growth as the nation’s leading first aid charity and in particular ensuring that more lives are saved each year by increasing the awareness of first aid,” says Conway.
St John Ambulance launched a TV ad campaign last year that aimed to shock viewers with the message that first aid should be taken as seriously as cancer. The Advertising Standards Authority received almost 150 complaints that the ad was “offensive and distressing” but it escaped a ban after the watchdog ruled that the shock tactics were justified.
