CIA Medianetwork has hired a new chief for its CIA Conzept offshoot
as it begins a bid to resuscitate the brand, shattered earlier this year
when management bailed out to join J. Walter Thompson.
David Stubley, the controller of business development at Channel 4, will
join Conzept as managing director before the end of the year. He will
initially concentrate on building CIA’s interactive, direct marketing
and sponsorship/programming expertise.
At the same time, Conzept is being brought into the Medianetwork fold to
develop a closer alliance with the main CIA operation and its
clients.
Previously, Conzept, CIA’s integrated media communications offering, was
run as a separate operation, and headed by John Horner.
But it struggled to win blue-chip clients, and Horner and his deputy
decamped to JWT in July to set up a new product development
division.
Marco Rimini, the vice-chairman of CIA Medianetwork, said the priority
for Conzept was to give existing CIA clients the best service before
looking outside. ’As media owners develop their offering, we’re making
sure we can translate it into relevant plans for clients, whatever the
medium,’ Rimini said.
At Channel 4, Stubley was responsible for steering the channel’s drive
to establish itself as a medium for direct marketing, negotiating
sponsorship deals such as Wella’s sponsorship of Friends and developing
new media.
