AIG hands DM chief top marketing job

Insurance giant AIG has promoted its direct marketing chief, Michelle Catney, to the top job of head of marketing for UK & Ireland, spearheading the company’s entire activity.
Catney, who has been working for AIG as head of direct marketing since 2012, started her career agency side before joining Royal Mail in 1996, staying for four years.
In 2000, Catney took on the role of head of CRM at Unilever, working on the Lever Farberge business, and then held senior direct marketing posts at Marks & Spencer, Prudential and British Gas Business.
In 2007, she became a consultant and worked for a number of major businesses including NEC Group, Dunnes Stores, Bupa and Labrokes, Direct Line Group and Acxiom.
In one recommendation on LinkedIn, Aimia digital strategist Laura Connolly said: “Michelle is a true leader and advocate of marketing, and her innovation and creativity to visualise great ideas are what’s missing from a lot of companies/marketing teams.
“From working with her at Bupa, I noticed how people transformed their way of thinking for the better, to create great communications which were much more fun and engaging to the customer. Michelle provided inspiration, and developed people to become much more devoted marketers.”
AIG has more than 88 million customers in 130 countries but is best known for its sports sponsorship in the UK having previously backed Manchester United in a £56m four-year deal which ended in 2010. The company also backed the MU Finance brand, offering insurance, credit cards and mortgages to the club’s fanbase.
However, AIG was one of the major casualties of the financial crisis that ripped through America in September 2008. At the time, it received a $150bn (£109bn) bail-out from the US government, although the terms of this rescue are now being challenged by AIG shareholders in a US court case.
Last month it was revealed the company is launching a major social media, video and online advertising campaign to exploit ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup; it currently sponsors both the New Zealand and USA national rugby teams.