FOCUS - EUROPE: BBC appoints Saatchis' Steve East CD

<p>The BBC has raided the advertising agency world to find a new </p><p>creative director for its commercial TC arm. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Steve East, who joins from Saatchi & Saatchi, Middle East, defies the </p><p>conventional BBC recruitment path in production. He replaces Andi </p><p>Granger, who recently left the BBC to join British Sky Broadcasting as </p><p>the creative director of Sky One and head of transmission. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>East will lead the creative services team which produces on-air </p><p>promotions for the BBC's joint venture commercial channels. They are </p><p>UK-TV, which includes UK Gold, UK Drama, UK Style, UK Horizons and UK </p><p>Play, as well as for the international channel BBC Prime. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Commenting on East's appointment, Dave Howe, the controller of creative </p><p>services, account management, broadcasting and presentations for the </p><p>BBC, said: "Steve has more than 20 years' experience of the advertising </p><p>industry and a skill-set which is well suited to our needs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"His knowledge and understanding of the creativity required in the </p><p>commercial world will be instrumental in helping us remain at the </p><p>forefront of our industry." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>East, who helped set up and was a creative director at Ammirati Puris </p><p>Lintas in Russia before moving to Saatchis, joins the BBC this </p><p>month. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said of his new responsibilities: "My role is to look at all the </p><p>channels and try and differentiate between them in their look and feel, </p><p>and to refresh their approach. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It's a question of moving them along. They are successful products now, </p><p>but I need to put some more definition between them." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Howe added: "Steve's role is strategically important to help sharpen our </p><p>commercial thinking as the BBC competes in an increasingly competitive </p><p>and very commercial multimedia environment." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>East began his advertising career at DMB&B in London, where he was the </p><p>senior art director. He moved on from the agency to become the creative </p><p>director for the start-up integrated agency Resolution in London, which </p><p>no longer exists. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>