Apollo would consequently handle the national sales for eight titles: The Daily Telegraph; The Sunday Telegraph; The Mirror; Sunday Mirror; Sunday People; The Daily Record; Sunday Mail; and The Business, the sales for which were taken on by The Telegraph Group last year.
Len Sanderson, the managing director of The Telegraph Group's sales operation, insisted that the move would not result in cross-selling and that separate sales teams would be maintained for the two groups.
The idea for Apollo grew out of discussions between Trinity Mirror's ad director, Neil Hurman, and Chris White-Smith, The Telegraph Group's ad director. Hur-man will operate as Apollo's client at Trinity Mirror.
Media buyers predicted that Apollo would first look to make savings on back-room operations such as research. However, Sanderson admitted that all areas of the business would be looked at for job efficiencies.
Guardian Newspapers' ad director, Stuart Taylor, said the move was a response to consolidation among media buyers. "I think this is entirely driven by cost,
he said. "It's logistically a big headache to merge systems and people and the risk is that the Mirror team will lose its grip on the paper's brand values."
Apollo will have a seven-member board with The Telegraph Group's chief executive, Dan Colson, as chairman and Sanderson as chief executive. Trinity Mirror is represented by its managing director, Mark Haysom, and Hurman. White-Smith, with the classified sales director, Mark Payne, and the regional director, Tedd Walmsley, comprise The Telegraph Group's delegation.
Sanderson said there are no plans to bring in management from outside the two groups.
- Headliner, p14.
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