GMR Revamps New Business, Promotes Three

Event marketing agency GMR Marketing has revamped its Business Development Group and promoted three execs.

GMR will set teams that draw from its disciplines to set strategy for current and prospective clients. The three execs will oversee the new process and lead the teams.

Rick Arnstein takes the new post of managing director of business development, handling general management duties; he had been executive VP-general manager of the New York office.

Steve Jarvis becomes executive VP in charge of external marketing communications; he had been senior VP-general manager of the Chicago office. GMR has not yet hired general managers to replace Arnstein or Jarvis.

Mike Boykin, who remains as senior VP-sports marketing, will manage growth of GMR’s sports marketing work.

A new planning group division is led by Tony Besasie, senior VP-business planning, who had been senior VP-client services. He will work with strategy and creative staffers to develop ideas for clients.

The changes took effect in early December and have already helped GMR win new work from AAA, Harley-Davidson and BP.

“We have scrutinized the planning and creative needs of current and future clients and looked within ourselves to identify the best practice solutions for developing new event programming. The combination of our resources into powerful business units like our Business Development Group is unlike anything in the marketplace today,” said GMR President Craig Connelly in a statement.