HarperCollins’ Boyle heads to BBC Worldwide

Boyle will report directly to Amanda Hill, chief brands officer. He’ll be based in New York but will be responsible for overseeing the work of the London-based global insight team.

In a note to staff, Hill explained that following Boyle’s appointment, Stella Creasey, senior vice-president for global research and insight, “will continue to directly lead the Business Insight aspect of the team as well as leading the team’s day-to-day engagement with Brands.

The BBC Worldwide Brands team, under Hill, is a central service tasked with developing an overarching brand strategy for all BBC Worldwide’s businesses and formats, and is responsible for the commercialisation of BBC Worldwide’s 14 flagship programme brands – including Doctor Who and Dancing with the Stars.

Boyle, who joins the corporation in March, has been tasked with “building premium, industry-leading insight capabilities for us that can be easily understood and valued by everyone in our organisation”, said Hill.

“Whether that’s insight into consumers, our brands and the market, or insight into what connects with our audience emotionally and inspires them. This understanding will help teams and our business to grow by identifying opportunities that will resonate with audiences and drive returns through understanding what our consumers want in-market.”

Boyle comes to the BBC 14 months after joining HarperCollins, where he was hired to build “a better and deeper understanding of consumer behaviour and attitudes towards books, authors, book discovery and purchase” – work that was featured in an Impact magazine profile piece last April [subscription required to read full article].

Prior to HarperCollins, Boyle was senior vice-president of insight for EMI Music, and also director of insight for Zeebox.