A leading Channel Island marketing communications agency has appointed two experienced business thinkers to its Board.
A leading Channel Island marketing communications agency has appointed two experienced business thinkers to its Board.
Chartered Director Paul Luxon has been appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Oi while John Merrien has taken up the position of Strategic Consultant.
“Throughout my professional business career across the Channel Islands I have worked with some global iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Champagne Bollinger, Carlsberg, and many more, so marketing, advertising, profiling and promotion have been at the heart of my work,’ said Mr Luxon.
“I love brands and the creativity around them. Joining Oi as Non-Exec Chairman allows me to work with a progressive company that is focused on developing big, commercially effective ideas for its clients…and that’s very exciting.”
Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, Mr Merrien will be working alongside Mr Luxon and Peter Grange, Oi’s Managing Director, on strategy, structure, change and business planning for the agency as it focuses on its next stage of growth in the Channel Islands (particularly Jersey) and London.
“The opportunities for growth at Oi are tremendously exciting as the company grows both internally and geographically into new markets” said Mr Merrien.
“My core mandate is to work with the board to preserve the personal touches clients expect and the freedom of thought displayed by staff at ‘small Oi’ while scaling the business into tomorrow’s larger pan-jurisdiction agency.”
Oi has recently made other significant new hires across its marketing, creative and digital teams following major account wins.
Caity Hutchison has joined as an Account Manager in Oi’s Jersey office from global advertising agency network BBDO where she managed the Johnsons & Johnsons account in South Africa. With a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Law and Media, Caity also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Advertising Communications. She has an excellent understanding of consumer insights, brand strategy, and strong campaign management skills. Experienced graphic designer Stuart Noel has also joined the Oi Jersey creative team having worked in the industry for over a decade. Oi will be moving to larger Jersey offices in the next month to allow for its next stage of growth in the island.
Sean Davidson has joined as a Senior Developer in Oi’s Guernsey office from Sure Mobile. With over 10 years development expertise including advanced web systems programming, application and e-commerce development, Sean will be working on large e-commerce projects for the agency’s clients.
Ania Karwowska has also joined the Guernsey team as a Digital Project Manager having gained significant digital marketing expertise in the financial and leisure sectors. She will be working closely with Oi’s development team managing website, e-commerce, application development projects, email and social media campaigns.
Julia Webber has been promoted within Oi to Operations Manager coordinating the smooth running of the agency’s offices, HR, systems and processes.
‘We have a diverse portfolio of well-established and (we’re pleased to say) successful clients across the islands and in the UK,’ said Peter Grange, Oi Managing Director.
‘Great people make a great agency and do great work. That’s what we’re focusing on and I’m really pleased to welcome Caity, Stuart, Ania and Sean to the agency.’
The appointments follow Oi’s continued success locally and in the UK, including being the retained agency for Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, Mourant Ozannes, Moore Stephens, The Royal Yacht Hotel, Airtel-Vodafone, THAI Airways UK, and Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London, to name a few.
As an Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) accredited agency, adopting the latest techniques, adhering to the highest industry standards, training, and development are very important at Oi.
‘For the third year running we’re pleased to have been given Continued Professional Development status from the IPA - the trade body that represents the top 200 advertising agencies in the UK. This recognises the agency’s focus on investing heavily in training and having an ongoing, structured training program for all staff,’ added Mr Grange.
Now employing 20 staff across Guernsey, Jersey and London, Oi is optimistic about the future and believes having a good marketing agency is as essential as having a good accountant, lawyer or IT service provider for any business to be successful.
Pictured: (Left to right) Paul Luxon, Oi Non-Executive Chairman, Peter Grange, Oi Managing Director, and John Merrien, Oi Strategic Consultant, with the agency’s 1959 BMW Isetta Bubble car.