Merrington promoted to Penguin Ventures creative director

Thomas Merrington has been promoted to creative director at Penguin Ventures, charged with setting the creative direction for all Penguin Ventures brands.

Merrington joined Penguin Random House from Silvergate Media in January 2016 as Peter Rabbit brand manager and head of product development for Penguin Ventures which manages PRH's portfolio of licensed literary brands and characters. 

In his new role, he will be developing new style guides and assets to support licensees, retailers and partners. He will also be involved in identifying new brands to add to the Ventures portfolio, his focus developing the "live, theatrical and experiential" business "to ensure that the Ventures brands continue to reach new audiences".

Merrington said: “Penguin Ventures is going through an incredibly exciting period of growth and I’m thrilled to be a part of its continued evolution.  I’m particularly looking forward to working with licensees and partners to build our platform of experiential and immersive brand events, which we see as a crucial part of our consumer-facing strategy. We’re in a unique position as guardians of an archive of original author artwork and manuscripts and I’m excited to explore this further and see what gems it has to offer.”   

Prior to Penguin Ventures, Merrington was v.p. brand and creative at Silvergate Media where he led product development for the Beatrix Potter brands and spearheaded the award-winning Beatrix Potter 150th anniversary year campaign. The anniversary campaign included the Festival of Light at Longleat, the Christmas Beatrix Potter window at Fenwicks and the new Peter Rabbit Playground at Willows Farm launched at Easter 2016. It won best Marketing and Communication Campaign at the Progressive Preschool Awards while the Peter Rabbit brand was awarded Best Classic Property at the Licensing Awards in 2016.

Susan Bolsover, head of licensing and consumer products for Penguin Ventures, said: “Thomas marries together a creative flair with a keen commercial eye which has been invaluable in our growth and commercial success as we take our brands into new and exciting areas. His incredible work on the Potter 150th Anniversary campaign was the perfect way to showcase his talents and we look forward to seeing how Thomas works his creative magic across our other brands.”