TUCKER, St James — In their effort to broaden their reach into corporate Jamaica and to continue their development, Red Stripe Premier League champions Montego Bay United are creating a marketing department which they hope will add a new dimension to their football product.

France-born Marc Devieux has been hired as the club’s first chief marketing officer, while Ann Toby has also been brought on board to “provide support in key areas, adding a regional touch to the team,” a release from the club said.

“The business of football requires a strategic marketing approach and so, as forward thinkers, we have invited on board two marketers to help us attain our goals, both local and internationally,” the release continued.

Devieux, the release said, up to recently headed the marketing initiatives of the Haugang United Football Club in Singapore.

Sandra Christie, the club’s chief operating officer and director of planning and administration, told the Jamaica Observer, it was time to do things differently.

“Montego Bay United have always done things a little bit outside of the box and we are not one to settle for substandard presentations and as such all of our initiatives have been to seek better things for the club, for football and the development of the game in Jamaica,” she said on Tuesday.

The success of the club is not news as under the guidance of former president Orville Powell had reaped success by winning the

Red Stripe Premier League recently.

“Under his vision and guidance we managed to surpass a lot of obstacles, internally and externally to come out on top and surpass our own expectations,” Christie said, while being flanked by Devieux, Toby and Donald Martin, the club’s director of finance and planning.

Devieux, Christie said, “brings international awareness of football management systems to MBU FC”.

“Football is not just limited to what takes place on the field so we are broadening the scope of things to include far greater aspects like marketing, merchandising, potential to incorporate sports tourism; just so many different facets that MBU being so centrally located in the tourism capital can exploit and he is specialised in marketing football,” she noted.

— Paul Reid