Welsman exits Sony for top Speedy Tomato job.

Alan Welsman, UK marketing chief of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has quit the company after seven years to take the top marketing job at Speedy Tomato, the multi-access portal set up by Scandinavia-based Telia AB.

Darren Carter, UK marketing manager and Welsman's deputy, is expected to be confirmed as his replacement in the new year.

News of Welsman's resignation comes just over a month after the UK launch of Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) console.

Welsman, who is understood to have given notice prior to the launch of PS2, will join Speedy Tomato early in the new year as UK marketing director.

He will be responsible for building Speedy Tomato's UK marketing team from scratch and developing the brand in the UK, overseeing an estimated pounds 20m marketing spend.

Speedy Tomato recruited St Luke's as its creative agency earlier this year. St Luke's recently established office in Stockholm, Sweden, will work on the business.

One of Welsman's priorities will be the appointment of a media agency for the commercial launch of the service, planned for early next year.

The portal will have its work cut out as it takes on high-spending rivals including Vizzavi, the portal owned by Vodafone and VivendiNet, and BT portal POP.

While at Sony, Welsman was heavily involved in the launch of both the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

He was widely credited with helping expand Play-Station's audience with lifestyle-focused advertising, events and sampling.

He originally joined the consumer electronics company in 1993 as international PR manager for Sony Electronics Publishing. He became head of PR at SCE in 1995, graduating to the top marketing role in 1997.

'I wanted to see the launch (of PS2) through but seven years is a long time. Speedy Tomato is like PlayStation in 1993. It's the beginning of the curve; there has been a huge growth in mobile devices,' said Welsman.

SCE's UK advertising is handled by TBWA/London, with below-the-line by Claydon Heeley Jones Mason

This article was first published on Marketing