Walkers raids US parent for crisps marketing chief

TANIA MASON

April 11, 2002

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Walkers raids US parent for crisps marketing chief

Walkers Snack Foods is drafting in top-level US marketing expertise to head Walkers Crisps, the UK's second-biggest brand.

The company has raided US parent Frito Lay to appoint its chief crisps marketer Mike Munro as marketing director for Walker Crisps.

Reporting to Walkers' vice-president of marketing Neil Campbell, Munro's role is believed to cover marketing for Walkers' flagship crisp brand, which has 45% of the UK crisp market according to Datamonitor. Responsible for an adspend of around £8m, he will oversee Walkers' relationship with MediaVest and Abbott Mead Vickers BDDO, which created the high-profile TV campaign starring Gary Lineker and other celebrities.

As Frito Lay vice-president of marketing, executive director crisps, Munro launched a snacks packaging format, a plastic can branded Go. It is not known whether his appointment heralds the launch of Go in the UK. He replaces brand director Jonathan Turner who quit last year to launch his own marketing agency.

Topics

Marketing