D&A commercial chief leaves after four years

Dollond & Aitchison’s commercial director, Alisdair Luxmoore, is

leaving the optical chain after four years, without a job to go to.

Luxmoore, 34, signed Hollywood actors Burt Reynolds and George Hamilton

to star in the brand’s most recent advertising campaigns. Prior to D&A,

he was brand communications director at Vauxhall.

Luxmoore said that he had not made any firm plans for his future,

adding: ’It’s a case of having itchy feet and wanting to move on. I feel

I am at a stage of life when it’s time to do something a little more

risky than climbing the corporate ladder, and a number of exciting

opportunities have presented themselves.’

His departure comes just three months after D&A’s head of direct

marketing, Carol McLaughlin, was promoted to head of marketing, and took

over responsibility for the pounds 4m ad account, handled by Lowe

Lintas, reporting to Luxmoore.

D&A’s chief executive, Russell Hardy, described Luxmoore’s impact on the

chain as ’significant’, adding that he will oversee the commercial team

himself until a successor is appointed. He is believed to be considering

internal and external candidates for the job.

The high-profile Burt Reynolds ad campaign has been the most visible

sign of D&A’s bid to fight off new rivals such as SpecSavers and Vision

Express since Luxmoore joined the company in 1996 as marketing

director.

He was promoted to commercial director two years later.

The campaign, launched in 1997, has promoted both long-term branding and

tactical in-store initiatives, such as D&A’s computer programme which

allows customers to view themselves in different frames.

Last year, Reynolds acted as a ’D&A evangelist’ in the ads, persuading

fellow Hollywood legend George Hamilton of the benefits of D&A’s

’service-led strategy’.

In March, the retailer announced its intention to drop ITV from its

media schedule in favour of partnerships with Channel 4, Channel 5 and

satellite TV. The move was made as part of a longer-term ’constant drip’

approach to advertising to take advantage of the fact that potential new

customers enter the marketplace on a continual basis (Marketing, March

30).

This article was first published on Marketing