UK-based Aardman Animation has hired a new sales and marketing manager to drive the studio’s third-party advertising and commercial business.

Advertising veteran Lydia Gough is now responsible for the sales and marketing of the company’s service work for clients, including commercials, short films and interactive content.  Gough is also managing the marketing of the commercials Aardman has made so far for clients such as Greenpeace, Royal Mail, BBC One and Coldplay. She joined the company in October.

Gough has held exec roles at advertising agencies and media companies such as M&C Saatchi, Wunderman Thompson, TMW Unlimited and Iris and has worked with clients like Adidas, Transport for London and HSBC. 

She previously worked with Aardman. Last year, she held the role of senior brand manager overseeing the global marketing for some of the studio’s popular kids IPs, such as Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. She also led the marketing campaign for the 30-minute special Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas.

Aardman produces its own feature films, series, games and interactive entertainment, as well as commercials and other short-form content for third-party companies.

Outside of this commercial work, it’s developing productions for kids like the CG-animated series Lloyd of the Flies and the feature film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (a sequel to Chicken Run). The studio also partnered with French AR/VR developer Atlas V in April to co-produce the first Wallace and Gromit virtual reality experience.