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´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide today announced the appointment of Tom Keefer as Senior Vice President of Global Licensing for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide.

Reporting to Neil Ross Russell, Managing Director ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide Children's and Licensing and Garth Ancier, President ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide America, Keefer will be responsible for growing licensing opportunities across ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide's portfolio of children's and adult brands, with initial focus on the US market.

Neil Ross Russell, Managing Director ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide Children's and Licensing said: "One of our core objectives when restructuring the business last year was examining untapped potential in territories outside the UK, especially the US where such a high proportion of the world’s licensing revenue is made. Tom is the ideal candidate to drive growth in this fundamental part of our business – he brings a wealth of invaluable experience – which will inform a new global licensing strategy to maximise value from our fantastic portfolio of brands both in the US and across the rest of the world."

Keefer joins ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide with 30 years of global licensing and brand-building experience. Since launching his career with Newsweek International, he has spearheaded the development of licensing programmes for some of the world's most prestigious businesses and brands including L.A. Gear, K-Swiss, Mattel – where he was head of International Marketing & Boys Licensing and SVP/General Manager – and most recently worked on FIFA/2010 World Cupâ„¢.

On his new appointment, Keefer said: "I'm honoured to be joining the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide team to further develop global licensing initiatives for such an impressive portfolio of world-class intellectual property."

In his new role, Keefer will lead the existing UK and International Licensing teams headed by Richard Hollis, Head of UK Licensing, and Anna Hewitt, Head of International Licensing – currently on maternity leave. He will work alongside Susanna Pollack, SVP TV Sales, Co-Productions and Children's on building children's brands in the US market, and oversee the development of adult licensing on brands such as ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth, Doctor Who and Top Gear.

Among Keefer's new reports is recently appointed International Licensing Manager Jackie Ferguson who joins from ER Entertainment and brings extensive experience from her 25 years working on licensing character, entertainment and sport brands.

Keefer joins ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide on 18th May. Currently based in California, he will re-locate to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide America's offices in New York. He will be at Licensing Show in Las Vegas in June.

Anna Kingsley