Royal Mail promotes Hings to boost brand
Royal Mail has promoted Tom Hings to the new position of director of brand marketing as it faces up to increased competition following the liberalisation of the market.
Hings, who has been with the company for four years, was previously head of brand strategy and advertising and was behind the “With us it’s personal” campaign.
He will be responsible for “developing and strengthening the Royal Mail brand to drive growth and retain customers”.
Hings will report to marketing director Alex Batchelor, who joined from Orange last year (MW April 21). Batchelor says: “His marketing knowledge and the experience he has gained working on the Royal Mail brand will be an asset to the company as it competes in a market recently opened to full competition.”
Before joining Royal Mail, Hings was marketing controller at Carlsberg, where he implemented the relaunch of Carlsberg standard and premium lager.
Royal Mail has started the long-awaited review of its #40m media planning and buying account, as first predicted by Marketing Week (July 20). The company is also looking for an agency to handle communications planning as part of the process.
Carat handles media planning and buying for Royal Mail and the Post Office, and the statutory review covers both brands. Carat, which is expected to repitch, originally won the business in 1997 and held on to it in 2002 following a statutory review.
Royal Mail also recently began a review of its digital agency arrangements but it is thought that its #20m advertising account, held by Abbott Mead Vickers. BBDO, is unaffected at this stage.
