Former Tennent's chief takes top Carling role
Coors UK has appointed former Tennent’s marketing boss Mark Hunter as its new CEO.
Hunter joined Bass Brewers in 1989 and held a number of positions within the marketing function. He led the brand portfolio at Bass Brewers Scottish operating company, Tennent Caledonian Brewers, where he was responsible for introducing the famous Red T advertising campaign and launching T in the Park festival.
He moved to England in 1996 to run the Carling brand before joining the board of Bass Brewers as marketing director responsible for the Bass Brewers portfolio.
In May 2005 he transferred to Molson in Canada after the Molson/Coors merger where he has responsibility for all sales and marketing activities across Canada as chief commercial officer.
Following Hunter’s move to Molson, Coors, marketing director Simon Davies, who appointed Leith, called a review of the Carling account in December of 2005, led by Bill Simcox, marketing director of Carling, which resulted in the move to Beattie McGuiness Bungay.
However, Hunter’s appointment at Coors has already left many in Scotland speculating that Scotland’s agencies might again benefit from his knowledge of the market north of the border.
Despite losing the flagship Carling account, thought to be worth around £7m, The Leith Agency currently works on a large raft of Coors’ business, including the Corrs Fine Light and Grolsch accounts.
One industry insider said that the appointment would be good for Scottish agencies, as Hunter has “a great knowledge of the work going on in the country” but they were sceptical that Carling would ever go back to its former home at Leith through Hunter’s own direction.