ITV To Launch New Division To Bring In New Ideas

ITV is to launch a new research and development division, ITV Imagine, which will be central to generating new ideas for the broadcaster.

Pele Cortizo-Burgess, the executive vice president and director of account planning at ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding in New York, will lead the team of around 14, which will be broken into three sections: creative development, content development and technology.

ITV is said to be looking at bringing in an “entrepreneur in residence” from leading companies such as Yahoo!, Google, Nokia and Sony PlayStation and there will also be a non-executive creative director from the advertising or media industry or business world.

Pamela Hamilton, currently the managing director of Research International’s Innovation Bureau, has been hired as head of creative development and Clare Thompson, the head of development for entertainment at ITV Productions, joins the team as head of content development.

“Teams like this are integral parts of some of the most successful creative industries in the world and, at a time where technology and trends are changing more rapidly than ever before, Imagine is an essential component of ITV’s growth strategy,” said the ITV commercial director, Ian McCulloch.

“Imagine’s job is to harness the huge creative talent within ITV and unite it with the best experts, visionaries and technologies to come up with the most innovative business ideas for ITV.”

The section has been created after research into the operations of successful companies like Google, Disney, Apple and Pixar.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com