Deborah Hyacinth has been appointed Vice President, International Digital Marketing, at Universal Music Group, it was announced this morning by UMG Global Marketing President Andrew Kronfeld.
Effective immediately, Hyacinth will be based in London and reports directly to Kronfeld. She joins UMG direct from EMI Music where she held the London-based role of Director, Global Digital Strategy and was responsible for developing the company’s social media and artist marketing campaigns across online, mobile and other emerging media platforms. Prior to joining EMI, Hyacinth held the post of Ecommerce & Consumer Marketing Manager (EMEA) at Reuters. From 2000 to 2005, she worked as Ecommerce Marketing Executive at U.K. entertainment retailer HMV.
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In her new role, Hyacinth will be responsible for developing UMG’s overall digital marketing and priority release strategy and will work alongside the major’s international marketing teams, repertoire owners and its global digital group. Growing music brands and digital services will also be a key component of her VP position, according to a press release from UMG, which states that Hyacinth “will be dealing with third party online, mobile and hardware companies, among others, and collaborating with the company’s business development, business affairs and digital accounts team to support the rollout of such new services.”
Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Kronfeld paid tribute to Hyacinth’s extensive experience in her field.”Digital music marketing in today’s highly competitive marketplace demands agility, skill and experience – all qualities which Deborah has in abundance,” Kronfeld said in a statement.
Rob Wells, President, Global Digital Business, UMG, added: “In the music business, there’s never been a more vital time to think and act globally, and to have the far-horizon perspective necessary to help to develop and support new digital services and music brands. Deborah’s background is the perfect prologue to this responsibility at UMG.”
“At a time when media is shifting dramatically, the potential that can be realised in the music industry is huge, and I’m thrilled to help shape new marketing models and build on UMG’s success,” said Hyacinth in a statement.