lastminute.com today announces the appointment of Vijay Solanki,

  departing music and marketing director of Shazam Entertainment, as UK

  marketing director.

  Vijay has over ten years experience in senior marketing roles with high

  profile consumer brands, within Capital Radio, IPC ignite! and Unilever.

  In his most recent role at mobile music start-up Shazam Entertainment,

  Vijay was responsible for the UK launch of the brand, product

  development and the full marketing programme, including music content

  management and partnerships.

  As marketing director at lastminute.com Vijay will form part of the UK

  management team, with responsibility for the delivery and development of

  the brand strategy for the combined UK businesses, which include

  travelselect.com, travel4less.co.uk and eXhilaration.co.uk.  He will

  report directly to the UK MD Helen Webb.

 

  Prior to Shazam Entertainment, Vijay was marketing director at IPC

  Media’s young men’s lifestyle and entertainment company, IPC ignite!,

  where he was involved in the relaunch of Loaded and NME and created the

  biggest ever men’s lifestyle study in the UK.  As head of marketing at

  Capital Radio, Vijay relaunched the flagship brands Capital FM and

  Capital Gold and co-managed Europe’s biggest pop event, Party in the

  Park, for which he was awarded a CRCA Marketing Excellence award in

  2000, amongst others.

 

  His marketing career began in the FMCG environment of Unilever, where he

  was responsible for relaunching the Dove brand, followed by RHM, where

  he was head of innovations.

 

  Commenting on his appointment, Vijay said, “One of my primary objectives

  at lastminute.com will be to drive sales by increasing customer

  conversion rates and broadening the customer base.  Ultimately, this

  will help drive the whole business forward and keep it in its position

  as market leader.  I’m really looking forward to working with the

  lastminute.com brand and the team to ensure that the business continues

  to develop and grow from strength to strength.”

 

  Helen Webb, UK managing director of lastminute.com said, ” Vijay is

  bright, energetic and has a real passion for what he does. He has an

  excellent background in marketing for some top brands, which, added to

  his strong creative mind, will bring innovation and significantly

  contribute towards the growth of our customer base.”

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