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Nestle has appointed Phil Humphries as the top marketer for

Northern Europe, including the UK for Nestle Purina Petfood, the

business created out of its £7.4bn acquisition of petfood giant

Ralston Purina last year.

Humphries, who was formerly sales director at Nestle-owned Friskies

Petcare, will report to Paul Butler, managing director for Northern

Europe, and is likely to oversee a budget of around £10m.

He will have responsibility for a portfolio of brands including former

Ralston brand Bakers Complete Dog Food Range, the UK's bestselling dry

dogfood product, and former Friskies products Felix, Winalot, Vital and

the Friskies range.

The integration of the two businesses and structure could end in a

shake-up of the agencies that work on the brands. McCann-Erickson and

BMP DDB share the creative business for the former Friskies brands,

while Bakers is handled by Burkitt DDB.

Last year Friskies spent more than £8m on advertising, while

Ralston Purina spent £2.6m. Nestle refused to comment on the

appointments.