Jonathan Kendall has been has been named to head the Diamond Trading Company’s new trade marketing group. The appointment will become effective from Jan. 1, 2004.

Kendall, who previously held senior positions at Procter & Gamble and at Unilever, joined the DTC in 2001 as head of what was then a new function, “client management.” In that role he was responsible for building up a team of key account executives who have worked closely with DTC sightholders in the implementation of DTC’s Supplier of Choice strategy—aimed at growing consumer demand for diamond jewelry in the context of an increasingly competitive luxury goods sector.

Kendall and his team will toward the next phase of the Supplier of Choice strategy, which requires “a sustained focus on encouraging the development of marketing skills, capabilities, and initiatives of the diamond industry to a level that will be the envy of the marketing world,” says Gareth Penny, DTC’s executive director of sales and marketing.

Kendall and his team will report directly to Stephen Lussier, DTC worldwide marketing director.

“Jonathan’s accumulated marketing expertise with major multinational marketing organizations, combined with his experience of DTC and its clients’ downstream objectives, make him ideally suited for this role,” Penny says.

JCK