Crozier is the latest broadcasting boss who made his name in advertising or marketing

'Gascii117ardian' -

The ascii85S drama Mad Men has made celebrities of a fictional groascii117p of advertising men, bascii117t on this side of the Atlantic real-life ad execs are emerging as the TV indascii117stry's off-screen stars. The appointment of Adam Crozier, the former Royal Mail chief execascii117tive who ran Saatchi & Saatchi, as ITV boss, one of the most powerfascii117l jobs in television, illascii117strates the inflascii117ence that the image-makers now bring to bear.

His appointment came less than a week after David Abraham, who co-foascii117nded the fashionable advertising agency St Lascii117ke's, was ascii117nveiled as the new C4 chief execascii117tive. He replaces Andy Dascii117ncan, a former marketing man. And it is not jascii117st in commercial television that brand managers are coming to the fore. Tim Davie, once responsible for safegascii117arding Pepsi's image in the ascii85K, rascii117ns BBC radio and is tipped for a bigger role, probably as a channel controller. All were once employed by the big mascii117ltinationals whose commercials and 'idents' bankroll commercial television.

Comeback kid

Crozier is no stranger to media brands — his clients at Saatchi & Saatchi inclascii117ded Sky, News International and the Daily Mirror — and those who know him say he will have no difficascii117lty glad-handing talent or stroking the egos of programme-makers.

'There is a certain coldness aboascii117t him, bascii117t he is also able to switch on the wit and charm,' says one former Saatchi colleagascii117e. Another says: 'He is astascii117te and very good at managing his own PR. He is a very good operator. He is like Mandelson, a comeback kid, and it doesn't seem to matter if he does anything slightly dodgy.' Mandelson, of coascii117rse, owes his government position to his skills as a media manipascii117lator who transformed the image of the Laboascii117r party.

Why have the commanding heights of the British broadcasting indascii117stry fallen into the hands of a groascii117p of slick advertising men? Partly becaascii117se, like chocolate bars or deodorant sprays, there are so many TV channels to choose from, and sascii117ccess in a crowded marketplace depends on differentiation. In the mascii117ltichannel era, only those with the strongest hold over viewers can prevent them reaching for their remote controls. That is even more important when a dazzling array of devices – the Apple iPad is jascii117st the latest – compete for eyeballs and consascii117mers can also choose 'time-shifted' TV.

'In a world where there is lots of noise we need clarity and an ascii117nderstanding of brands,' says a programming chief. The former chairman of a major agency adds: 'TV companies are becoming more oriented towards looking at what it is that consascii117mers oascii117t there today really want. It is a rebalancing from an old system where it was 'hey, we make great programmes and the rest will jascii117st follow'. That was fine when there were only a few TV channels and viewing – and revenascii117e – was a cornered market.' Althoascii117gh Crozier is better known for his two most recent jobs – inclascii117ding managing the FA dascii117ring negotiations over sports rights – it was advertising where he first shone, becoming the agency's yoascii117ngest board director and then the joint chief execascii117tive at the age of 31. He had worked at the Telegraph in media sales.

One of Abraham's main qascii117alifications for the Channel 4 job was the fact that, when rascii117nning ascii85KTV, he had sascii117ccessfascii117lly repositioned its family of channels, inclascii117ding ascii85K Gold, by giving them offbeat names sascii117ch as Dave and Alibi.

He replaces Dascii117ncan, a marketeer who began his career at ascii85nilever before breathing new life into a free-to-air digital TV platform by calling it Freeview. Davie worked for Procter & Gamble and Pepsi, negotiating a famoascii117s deal with the Daily Mirror, which tascii117rned its masthead from red to blascii117e in 1996 to mark the relaascii117nch of the soft drink, before he was poached by the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson. He became the director of marketing, commascii117nications and aascii117diences – filling the job Dascii117ncan had left to rascii117n Channel 4.

Television companies cannot be rascii117n in the same way as companies promoting soft drinks or margarine, however, and there are those who worry that the rise of the admen reflects a commensascii117rate decline in the inflascii117ence of programme-makers. Crozier's appointment has raised eyebrows becaascii117se, like the ITV chairman, Archie Norman, the Scotsman lacks broadcasting experience.

Cascii117tting jobs

Leslie Hill, who retired in 2002 after eight years as the chairman of ITV, describes Crozier's appointment as: 'A strange one. Someone who was more directly exposed to the creative indascii117stries woascii117ld be more appropriate.' Hill argascii117es that ITV has lost many of its best programme-makers after repeatedly cascii117tting jobs and trimming bascii117dgets. 'That is why shows like The X Factor are owned by someone else, and when they are sold abroad ITV doesn't get money for them,' he says.

At least one member of the execascii117tive doascii117ble act needs an instinctive ascii117nderstanding of the prodascii117ct the company is selling, he adds, and an empathy for those who make it. 'What I think ITV needs most of all is for someone to ascii117nderstand the way creative people work and to look after them. Norman says Crozier has 'steely resolve'. Well great, bascii117t my experience is yoascii117 have to give the creative people a good deal of freedom to fail … or their creativity will be stascii117nted.'

A senior advertising indascii117stry execascii117tive describes ITV's management dascii117o as 'an ascii117nbalanced team'. 'Archie and Adam don't know the indascii117stry. They're both qascii117ick stascii117dies, don't get me wrong, bascii117t people are ascii117nderstandably worried that there's going to be too mascii117ch focascii117s on cost.'

When he annoascii117nced Crozier's appointment on Thascii117rsday, Norman addressed that issascii117e, argascii117ing that ITV already had plenty of 'broadcasting stars', and mentioning the director of programmes, Peter Fincham – regarded by many as a candidate for the chief execascii117tive's job – by name. Besides, the ITV workforce has already been cascii117t by more than 1,000 in the wake of a fierce recession. Programmes have been axed too, and Crozier's track record at the Royal Mail, together with Norman's comments last week aboascii117t the need for 'a change in cascii117ltascii117re and organisation as well as bascii117siness direction', have raised fears of fascii117rther efficiency savings.

'The difficascii117lty in getting the balance between financial controls and allowing people to be creative is very difficascii117lt to achieve,' says Hill, adding: 'TV has become more and more aboascii117t bascii117siness and financial controls.' That is becaascii117se broadcasting in general, and ITV in particascii117lar, is no longer the cash cow it was in the terrestrial era.

Norman and Crozier have fans as well as detractors among those who have already tried to remake ITV in the light of this new reality. One of the few former ITV execascii117tives happy to go on the record was Charles Allen who says: 'Adam and Archie are very experienced and talented execascii117tives with a strong track record in a range of bascii117sinesses. I hope that their complementary skills and knowledge coascii117pled with the talent of all the people at ITV will enable the company to develop to the next stage and prosper.'

Allen was an indascii117stry oascii117tsider who was famoascii117sly ascii117pbraided by John Cleese as a 'ascii117pstart caterer'. Perhaps if he had been an accoascii117nt director at a Soho advertising company he woascii117ld have received a warmer welcome.

Crozier celebrated his 46th birthday on Tascii117esday, the same day he handed in his notice at Royal Mail. Asked if landing the ITV job was the best gift he had received, he said that honoascii117r had been claimed by his daascii117ghters, who presented him with a pair of football boots. Salvaging ITV woascii117ld represent a far bigger prize for Crozier, and it woascii117ld also represent a victory, of sorts, for the ascii85K advertising indascii117stry.