Phillips nets top role at troubled Hibu

Phillips nets top role at troubled HibuYellow Pages publisher Hibu, the company which went into administration last year with debts of £2bn, has entrusted former Proximity boss Amanda Phillips to spearhead its global drive for new customers.
Phillips, who worked with the directory business when it was a key client while she was chief executive of Proximity London, joins from agency Volume. She joined the agency last year, after quitting An Abundance, the business she co-founded with Chris Ward in 2011.
As global head of customer acquisition at Hibu, Phillips has been briefed to deliver a global strategy for customer acquisition, managing a team including strategy and planning, affiliate marketing and online traffic.
Working within the wider global marketing team, and with key business units, including sales, online, data, CRM and technology, Phillips will operate across Hibu’s key markets in the UK, US, Latin America and Spain.
At the end of last year there were reports that the company was seeking a CRM agency, although it is not known how far this search has progressed. In 2012, Hibu (then known as Yell) appointed Engine Group – led by Partners Andrews Aldridge – to its estimated £60m global ad account after a pitch.
Before that, the account was run by Rapier, and its loss was cited as a major contributing factor to the agency’s demise last year. Rapier won the business from Proximity London soon after Phillips left the Omnicom business in 2008.
Yell rebranded as Hibu in May 2012 but kept the Yellow Pages brand for its print product. In July last year, the parent company went into administration, although Yellow Pages and other subsidiaries continue to trade after a debt-for-equity swap with lenders that shaved £800m from its £2.3bn debt but left nothing for shareholders.
The controversy deepened when it was revealed last month that Hibu gave chairman Bob Wigley a £120,000-a-year salary hike to almost £400,000 and an extra £10,000 “car allowance” last October, just three months after its collapse.

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1 Comment on "Phillips nets top role at troubled Hibu"

  1. Amanda to the rescue? Phillips takes top job at Yellow Pages publisher Hibu http://t.co/oTkXLAxpVL #directmarketing #digitalmarketing #data

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