Funny Valentine

What would you rather try to sell to the British public - The BBC or sofas ?  Helen Normoyle has rather suddenly left the role of Director of Marketing, Communication & Audiences at the BBC (estimated marketing spend in the year ahead £80m) for ailing sofa-manufacturer DFS (estimated marketing spend in the year ahead £84m).

Helen only gave her first press interview as Director of MCA at the Beeb to Marketing Week at the beginning of this month, and was apparently looking forward to the challenges of 2012.  Helen's total package at the BBC was £207,800 - healthy, but a step down from predecessor Sharon Baylay's £376k. On Valentine's Day came news of Helen's move into furniture.

By the by, in January 2010, the Daily Mail highlighted four names in Marketing, Communications and Audiences and their salaries - in the wake of P.D.James savaging Mark Thompson on the Today Programme. All four have now left the BBC - Helen Normoyle, Sharon Baylay, Ed Williams (Director of Communications until October last year, on £233k) and Jacky Brandreth-Potter (Director of Brand and Planning until October 2010, on £175k).