Viacom Outdoor Creates New Strategic Planning Role
Viacom Outdoor has appointed Steve Cox to the newly created role of strategic planning director as part of a wide-ranging restructure of its sales and marketing operations.
The new position will see Cox move over from his planning and research role in the marketing department to head up the agency sales operation. He will lead four smaller teams responsible for forging closer links with media planners and the creatives.
Gus Chiswick and Angela Raczka have been promoted to group account directors and will run two of the new teams. They will focus on working closely with agencies to between understand the needs of their clients.
The restructure is part of Viacom Outdoor’s new strategy to become the ‘customer’s favourite’. The initiative will be spearheaded by Hannah Skellorn (Pictured), who has been promoted to the role of UK marketing director, with responsibility for communications, planning, research, design and events.
Skellorn joined Viacom Outdoor in 2000 as marketing communications manager. Prior to this she spent six years in a number of different media agencies working across a range of market sectors and brand strategies.
Commenting on the initiative, Viacom Outdoor’s joint managing director, Clive Punter, said: “As media agencies’ and advertisers’ businesses change, with a greater emphasis upon communication strategy and creativity, it’s more important than ever that we understand their objectives and talk their language.”
He added: “As Outdoor grows to a 10% medium we are competing within the broad spectrum of communication channels, not just traditional media. At Viacom Outdoor we are developing our people and our structure with a view to meeting our customers’ evolving needs and our own objective of being the customers’ favourite.”
Earlier this year Viacom Outdoor secured the exclusive £5 million contract to sell advertising on Chiltern Railways in a move that marked the company’s third rail contract to be snatched from rival Maiden Outdoor (see Viacom Outdoor Snatches Third Rail Contract From Maiden).
The deal came as outdoor advertising celebrated a record year, with recent figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association showing the medium is on course to command an unprecedented 10% market share. The latest data shows that industry revenue topped £225 million for the first time in the three months to December 2003 (see Outdoor Results Show Record Growth And Market Share).
Viacom Outdoor: 020 7478 5240 www.viacom-outdoor.co.uk
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