The NEC Group has made two senior marketing and commercial appointments to drive a new business unit and bring fresh FMCG marketing expertise in to one of the UK’s leading venue management and entertainment companies.
Stuart Cain has been appointed Managing Director of Commercial Marketing; a new division set up to develop national ticket agency, The Ticket Factory and launch Eight Feet Tall – a specialist marketing, media and sponsorship agency for the live events industry. Cain was previously Marketing Director at the NEC Group and he has been replaced by FMCG brand marketing expert Nicola Young who joins from Molson Coors.
Stuart has held a number of senior marketing and commercial roles across sport and entertainment including Managing Partner of Sport & Entertainment at Mindshare as well as Commercial Director at Rangers FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Prior to that, he was Director of Marketing at Molson Coors.
Having started life as the Box Office to the NEC, NIA and LG Arena, The Ticket Factory has been a phenomenal success; doubling in size over the past few years and now selling over 2.5 million tickets per year. Cain’s brief is to take this growth even further focusing on the customer experience and securing fresh inventory nationally and internationally. Eight Feet Tall has been set up to capitalise on demand from within the events industry for a specialist marketing and media agency that understands the specific needs of exhibition, sport, convention and entertainment clients when it comes to selling tickets and registrations.
Stuart said:
“I am truly excited about the challenges that this role entails. The Ticket Factory is one of the most exciting and innovative brands in the industry and I’m keen to ensure that its growth continues. The Ticket Factory has gone from being the Box Office of three venues to being a national online retailer, selling for events including the RHS Flower Shows, Robbie Williams at Wembley, Michael Buble at the 02, and Crufts. I want to ensure that we keep bringing this business in and build on the success of relationships with renowned organisations like Haymarket and the Royal Horticultural Society. Added to this, Eight Feet Tall will also welcome a host of business opportunities for the Group.”
Stuart’s role also sees him as Managing Director of Eight Feet Tall; a marketing, media and sponsorship agency for the live events industry. The agency is set to launch in early 2013.
The NEC Group also welcomes a new Marketing Services Director to replace Stuart. Nicola Young joins from Molson Coors and Bass PLC, where she spent the last nine years working in a number of senior roles, including Director of Research and Planning and Director of Marketing – Insight and Communications. In her new role Nicola is responsible for the strategic direction of the Group’s central marketing department, overseeing client services, communications, design, digital, and insight.
Nicola has over 15 years’ experience working in FMCG and brand marketing. In her most recent position at Molson Coors, Nicola was promoted to Director of Futures and was responsible for the delivery of the innovation pipeline.
Commenting on her new appointment, Nicola said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be joining a company with the reputation and heritage of the NEC Group. A big factor in my decision to take the job was the vision of the management team ‘to bring live to life’, providing destinations of the future and ultimately creating unforgettable live experiences at our venues. The Barclaycard partnership and upcoming Resorts World development are great examples of the ambition and forward-thinking of the leadership team. This role is particularly exciting for me as it marks quite a change in my career; most of my experience has been in brand management for FMCG companies.”
The NEC Group might be a new a industry for Nicola but she can already see a lot of similarities between the business and her experiences working in FMCG: “There are a lot more similarities between the two sectors than I first realised; the biggest being the Groups commitment to place its customers at the heart of everything it does.
For me, the consumer has always been key; whether that was the introduction of immersion programmes designed to help us see the world through the eyes of our consumers; creating innovative marketing campaigns like Carling iPint (one of the first branded applications for iPhones in the UK), or developing a media planning approach that leverages multiple touchpoints. The thinking is the same; if you want to create visionary marketing you need to understand your audience and make every moment count.”