Tesco has turned to a leading advertising veteran to take charge of the brand strategy behind its rapidly expanding digital entertainment service Blinkbox.
Former TBWA CEO Matt Shepherd-Smith has joined as group brand director, having advised the company in a non-executive capacity for the past two years.
Shepherd-Smith has racked up 22 years with advertising agencies, the latter 11 at TBWA, where clients included technology giants Apple and PlayStation, as well as others such as Nissan and Masterfoods.
Tesco said the rapid growth of the Blinkbox businesses had driven the need for a full-time group brand director to bring together the strategy to create a more defined “look, feel and tone” for the different Blinkbox services. He will report to Blinkbox CEO and Tesco group digital officer Michael Comish.
“We are thrilled to have Matt join the team full time as we extend our services beyond movies and TV to include music and books,” said Comish. “Matt’s role is to ensure these businesses combine to create a strong and differentiated Blinkbox brand in the entertainment sector and within the Tesco estate.”
Tesco recently launched a multimillion pound ad campaign to get behind Blinkbox, which features a TV and movie streaming service as well as the music and e-books service Blinkbox Books. Its team also spearheads Tesco’s Clubcard TV service, which is free for all Tesco Clubcard members.
Tesco claims Blinkbox has 10 times the number of new blockbuster movies offered by subscription rivals Lovefilm Instant and Netflix.
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