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Hello! magazine has appointed an advertising sales director and

restructured its sales department as it gears up for a major revamp of

its website.

Loretta Williamson has taken the sales director’s role after a promotion

from her previous position as associate ad director. She replaces Jon

Humphrey, ad sales and development director, who has joined e-commerce

software company Stratum Media as marketing director. He will continue

to work for Hello! as a non-executive director.

The title has also created the role of commercial director, with a remit

covering ad sales as well as marketing and development.

Humphrey said Hello! had been in contact with headhunters since

mid-January with a view to recruiting a suitable candidate. He added

that it may take a few months to ’get the right person’.

Humphrey said: ’Loretta has been running the implementation side of the

sales department for some time, while I have been concentrating on the

strategy. She will have no problem taking control in her new role.’

Hello! is also preparing a major overhaul of its online offering. Staff

were tight-lipped about details of the changes, although publishing

director Sally Cartwright did say a ’radical development’ was in the

pipeline.

She also said the title intended to make use of ’new software that will

be particularly useful for a magazine as image-driven as Hello!’.

Humphrey pointed out that the revamp was at very early stages of

development.

He commented that Hello! was currently debating whether the website

should be a marketing tool for the magazine and its content, or whether

it would be more focused on e-commerce.

He added that the direction of the company’s online growth was being

discussed across parent company the Hola Group, and concerned Hola! in

Spain, Oh La! in France and Hello! in the UK.