IAB appoints Eyre to push use of online advertising

New Media Age, March, 2003 by Yinka Adegoke

The IAB has appointed former ITV and Capital Radio boss Richard Eyre as chairman to spearhead its drive to double the amount that advertisers spend online.

Eyre's appointment, after months of negotiations, is the latest stage in a renewed attempt by the IAB to establish itself as the voice of the industry and specifically drive the take-up of online advertising by mainstream advertisers.

Although Eyre's only experience in working with the Internet has been in overseeing the launch of some of the Capital Radio Group's early Web sites, he told NMA that his work in helping set up the Radio Advertising Bureau would be far more relevant to his new post.

"In some ways, convincing very large advertisers that the Internet is a grown-up ad medium reflects...