Merlin Entertainments has announced two senior marketing appointments. Ash Tailor has been appointed as global brand director at Legoland and Matthew Williams has been appointed as global brand director at Midway Attractions.

Tailor will be responsible for nurturing global marketing and brand development at Legoland parks and Legoland Discovery Centres, overseeing brand strategy, product development and customer engagement.

Legoland’s new global brand director will also be the primary Merlin relationship partner with Lego Group.

Having worked with several high-profile brands, including Vodafone, Coca-Cola and Unilever, Tailor brings a wealth of experience in retail marketing and FMCG to Legoland.

Before joining Merlin, Tailor held the position of global category director at Britvic, leading the development and performance of the Kids Category.

At Midway Attractions, Matthew Williams will have the responsibility of setting and implementing brand strategies across the Sea Life Dungeons and Eye brands, placing the consumer at the core of brand development.

Williams will also be focused on delivering world-pioneering product and commercial activations and will also manage Midway’s global partnerships.

Like Tailor, Williams has a strong track record in retail and FMCG.  Before joining Merlin, Williams played a central role in developing growth at Costa Coffee, as both commercial and marketing director for the UK&I and as global brand and Insight director.

Both Tailor and Williams will begin their new roles in mid-September.

Mark Fisher, chief development officer of Merlin, spoke of the new appointments:

“The strength of our brands and how we develop our business to meet our ever increasing customer expectations are crucial to ensure our continued business success.

“Both Matthew and Ash bring with them enormous brand-building knowledge and marketing know-how from FMCG and retail sectors, which, with their great energy and customer obsession, will help us consistently deliver amazing experiences for our guests. I look forward to working with them.”