Furlong is top marketer at Europcar as Kempston moves to Travelodge

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Thursday, 20 September 2012 01:15PM

Europcar, the car hire company, has appointed Andy Furlong as its new director of marketing and ecommerce, replacing Catriona Kempston who quit the car hire brand to join budget hotel chain Travelodge six months ago.

Europcar: the extra hour by Ogilvy and Mather

Furlong joins from Travelhorizon Group, the European mountain holidays company, where he was chief marketing officer.

He will report to Ken McCall, managing director of Europcar UK Group.

Furlong replaces Kempston, who moved to Travelodge six months ago for an interim period. This week she was confirmed by the brand as the new sales and marketing director.

At Europcar, Kempston built a consumer marketing department and led the brand's relaunch last year, following the company's merger with National and Alamo. Prior to this, Kempston was head of brand marketing at Premier Inn for three years.

At Travelodge, Kempston will report to chief executive Grant Hearn, and is tasked with developing the brand while growing revenue through sales and marketing channels.

Travelodge has had an unsettling year so far – from its financial restructure to its chief executive checking out, the budget hotel brand will need new measures to ensure the business stays competitive in the price-led market.

Read Marketing’s Brand Health Check on Travelodge here.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk