Allied Bakeries jettisons marketing boss and JWT

by Lucy Barrett, Marketing 15-Feb-06

Allied Bakeries, which owns the Kingsmill and Allinson bread brands, has ousted marketing director Jo Sykes and is parting company with its advertising agency, JWT.

The decisions follow the arrival of Brian Robinson as chief executive at the end of last year.

Sykes, who left Allied Bakeries at the end of last week, joined the company in 2002 from Masterfoods, where she oversaw marketing on its dog food brands.

She has been replaced on a temporary basis by Kingsmill head of marketing Jon Wilson. The company is looking for a permanent replacement for Sykes.

Soon after joining Allied Bakeries, Sykes moved its £3m ad account out of Publicis into JWT.

JWT replaced Kingsmill's long-running ads starring TV presenters Mel and Sue with a campaign that made light-hearted claims about the bread being a favourite of Elvis Presley, using the strapline 'The King's mill'. This was axed last month in favour of 'Use your loaf'.

A spokesman for Allied Bakeries, which is owned by Associated British Foods, confirmed Sykes' departure, claiming it was by 'mutual agreement'.

He added that the decision to review its advertising out of JWT was made by Robinson, who moved to his current role from the firm's bakery division in Australia last October.

Allied Bakeries also owns the Sunblest and Burgen brands. The latter is undergoing a revamp intended to communicate its natural ingredients and health benefits (Marketing, 8 February).