Aardman has announced the promotions of Rob Goodchild to commercial director and Alison Taylor to director of distribution and business development.

These newly created roles in the sales and marketing arm of the business form part of a departmental restructuring to consolidate the studio’s sales, marketing and brand management expertise.

Rob Goodchild joined Aardman as UK licensing manager in 2008 before progressing to head of licensing. In that time he secured major partnerships for all of Aardman’s key brands supporting global business growth, particularly in Japan and China, as well as working to deliver innovation-led projects such as The Big Fix Up, a new Wallace & Gromit immersive story told through AR (augmented reality), in collaboration with Fictioneers. In his new position as commercial director, Rob will assume strategic responsibility for the selling and marketing of the studio’s services including third party commercials and short films, the rights exploitation for all Aardman brands, and defining new business opportunities such as the development of IP and animated content for third party brands, theme parks and attractions. He will be tasked with delivering revenue across different categories and markets, influencing growth in key territories across Europe and Asia. Rob also directs the development of Aardman’s branded interactive business, working to increase its presence in the gaming space and with pioneering companies to grow Aardman’s output in new technologies including AR and Blockchain.

Alison Taylor, currently head of sales and acquisitions at Aardman, will be responsible for driving the financing, distribution and long-term content exploitation strategy for each brand.

Both Alison and Rob will report to Sean Clarke, managing director at Aardman. “The restructuring of our sales and marketing arm is the natural next step in maximising this industry-leading expertise, to continue to realise the full potential of Aardman’s IP alongside developing our studio service work for third party brands. Alison and Rob will make a formidable partnership, working alongside Lucy Wendover who will continue to lead the marketing and brand team.”