Vodafone UK appoints former marketer Hoencamp CEO
Vodafone has appointed the director of its enterprise division and former b2b marketer Jeroen Hoencamp as the chief executive of its UK business.
Hoencamp, currently UK enterprise director, will succeed Guy Laurence who is leaving the company in November to become president and chief executive officer of Canadian communications and media business Rogers Communications.
Hoencamp will report into Philipp Humm, Vodafone’s regional CEO for Europe.
Hoencamp has worked across Vodafone’s group of businesses since 1998, when he joined as director of retail operations at Vodafone Netherlands. He also held the head of business marketing, sales director and enterprise business unit roles in the region before becoming CEO of Vodafone Ireland in 2010. He became Vodafone UK Enterprise director in January this year.
The appointment reinforces Vodafone UK’s focus on the business market and follows last year’s £1.04bn takeover of Cable & Wireless Worldwide, boosting Vodafone’s enterprise offering in terms of both customer base and infrastructure.
Vodafone currently has a 20 per cent share of the consumer mobile market, behind O2 with 23.6 per cent, according to comScore data for July.
Laurence will leave Vodafone just months after it switched on its 4G network in the UK to both consumer and business customers.
The brand is currently running a multi-million pound advertising campaign featuring its brand ambassador Yoda and new global branding “Vodafone Power of Red” to promote its 4G network as it looks to compete with EE and O2, the only other two operations currently offering 4G in the UK.
Laurence joined Vodafone UK as chief executive in 2008 and in that time has made a number of major changes in a bid to become more competitive with its rivals, such as the removal of executive offices, cutting costs and introducing its Vodafone VIP loyalty programme.
Prior to that he, like Hoencamp, spent time running Vodafone’s operation in the Netherlands.
He joined Vodafone in 2000 as chief marketing officer and chief executive of Vodafone Content Services.
Before joining Vodafone he served in various marketing, commercial and leadership roles and media companies including MGM Studios, Chrysalis Records, Carlton Television and Universal and Paramount Cinemas.
Earlier this week Vodafone announced the executive director of Virgin Media’s digital entertainment division Cindy Rose is to become its consumer director.
She will be responsible for creating customer propositions across contract and pay as you go, liaising closely with brand director Daryl Fielding to communicate these through advertising, and also for the operator’s retail estate of nearly 400 stores.
She replaces Srini Gopalan who left the company in June to join Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel.
