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Starcom Motive Partnership has poached MediaCom Direct’s managing

director, Diana Rhodes, to head a new direct response media division,

Starcom Motive Direct.

Rhodes, who still has two months to run on her contract with MediaCom,

is considered to be one of the biggest names in direct response

marketing and will be seen as a major boost to Starcom’s first

large-scale foray into the area. ’I’m delighted to get her,’ Mark

Cranmer, the chief executive of Starcom Motive, said. ’She’s a top name

with unequalled credentials in this industry.’

Rhodes, a New Yorker who arrived in the UK in 1984, joined MediaCom from

her position as media director at WWAV Rapp Collins in July 1998. She

was credited with playing a major role in MediaCom’s growth, with

billings increasing by 45 per cent during the past year. ’This is a

fabulous opportunity,’ she said of the move to Starcom Motive. ’It’s a

company whose culture I feel comfortable with and which is keen to

develop challenging and fresh solutions to each client brief. I’m

looking forward to creating a powerful direct proposition here.’

The recently formed B COM3 group, of which Starcom Motive is a member,

includes several below-the-line agencies, such as BBH Unlimited, which

could work alongside the new division.

’We’re expanding our proposition and we’ll be able to become a proper

partner to the growing band of direct response companies,’ Cranmer said.

’Despite all the convergence of new technology in the digital arena,

there’s a strong and growing demand for traditional direct response in

offline media.’

Rhodes added: ’Experience and resources are a powerful combination when

it comes to delivering the results that direct media clients expect. The

opportunity to set up a direct division at Starcom Motive only comes

once a lifetime.’