Saatchi’s boss Ian Rowden appointed CMO of Virgin Group
Saatchi & Saatchi’s regional boss Ian Rowden – an Australian – has been appointed as the chief marketing officer of Virgin Group.
The announcement:
Virgin Group today announces it has appointed Ian Rowden to be its new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). This appointment is the first senior hire by incoming Co-Ceo’s David Baxby and Josh Bayliss and places the brand and this role at the heart of the Group’s strategy. Ian has a mandate to drive the Virgin brand’s international expansion and to enhance and expand the global brand team.
Josh and David said: “Expanding the strength and reach of the Virgin brand is at the core of our strategy and we look forward to working with Ian to execute this plan. He has a unique mix of marketing and entrepreneurial experience to help grow our existing companies and develop new markets and industries.”
Ian Rowden said ‘The Virgin brand touches consumers all over the world. It was the opportunity to drive further growth of this incredible brand that attracted me to the Virgin Group. I look forward to working with Richard and the team as we explore new ventures for Virgin around the globe.’
Ian joins from Saatchi & Saatchi Asia Pacific where he has been Chairman and CEO for the last three years responsible for the key growth markets of India and China. He brings a huge amount of global commercial marketing and advertising experience from a career spanning companies such as The Coca Cola Company, Wendy’s International and Callaway Golf.
Educated in Sydney, Australia, Ian started his career with The Coca‐Cola Company in early 1980. He spent eight years at Coca‐Cola before joining Power Brewing Company in Brisbane and then later became a Director and Managing Partner of DDB Needham Advertising in Sydney.
Rowden returned to Coca‐Cola in 1992 when he was appointed Vice President of Marketing for the company’s South Pacific Region.From 1993‐1995 Ian worked in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan and led the company in its expansion efforts in this critical geographic region. In November 1995 he was promoted to Vice President and Director of Worldwide Advertising based in Atlanta, Georgia, where he presided over Coca-Cola’s global brand strategy and advertising efforts, a position he held until he joined Callaway Golf in September 2000.
As Callaway’s CMO he helped to reengineer the product range and overhaul its advertising and marketing strategy, before joining the fast food chain Wendy’s International as its EVP and CMO in 2004. There he lead the re-positioning of the brand and business expanding the menu offering, redesigning the look and feel of the fast food restaurant chain and attracting new customers to the franchise.
H e is a board member of the Miami Ad School, a non‐profit organisation and the world’s leading source of advertising creative talent with schools in Miami, San Francisco, New York, Sydney, London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Hamburg, Shanghai and Minneapolis. Ian was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement in 1999, the advertising industry’s premier award for outstanding professionals aged 40 and under.
Sir Richard Branson commented: “I am excited by the opportunities we have to extend the Virgin brand around the world. Ian is going to play a major role in helping us drive that expansion.”
Peter Norris, non-executive chairman said “We were very fortunate to have many talented people apply for the role and it was Ian’s entrepreneurial aptitude that set him apart, I look forward to working with him.”
…nice shirt
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Those shirts start to appear in wardrobes after about the 2nd year in Asia.
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They were in a hurry to get this presser out without proof reading it weren’t they? I particularly like the use of a superfluous possessive apostrophe in ” Co-Ceo’s David Baxby and Josh Bayliss”…
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Pretty jolly decent of Virgin to overlook Saatchi’s backslide the last few years.
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The Shirt says ‘authority’.
The Shirt says ‘decisiveness’.
The Shirt says ‘leadership’.
All hail the Shirt of Ian.
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The Shirt says ‘virgin’.
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don’t know this guy but aren’t Saatchi’s losing their shirts at the moment and isn’t he the boss?
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