The South Dragons have appointed Craig Armstead as Marketing Director of the club ahead of their inaugural 2006/07 Philips Championship campaign.

Armstead, who was previously Marketing Director of Dulux Paints and has been joint Director of Mattel Toys joins the Dragons as their ninth full time front office staff member.

An eager basketball fan, Armstead has played junior domestic and representative basketball from the age of six, and is involved with junior basketball club Melbourne Tigers Big V program.

“As a passionate fan of the sport of basketball, and the profession of marketing and branding, the opportunity to work for the South Dragons was the ultimate role for me,” said Armstead.

“Having observed the clarity and impact with which the South Dragons brand has been developed heightened my excitement to be involved with the organization.

“I believe that my experience and training in marketing to consumer markets will be of great value as we continue to excite Melbourne about the sport of basketball and the South Dragons NBL team”.

South Dragons chairman Mark Cowan says the addition of Armstead is key to the off-court growth of Victoria’s newest NBL franchise.

“It's terrific to have a person of Craig's calibre join the Dragons team,” said Chairman Mark Cowan.

"At the end of the day this (the South Dragons) is a brand we're creating and to have Craig's assistance in this process is exciting."

NBL Commissioner Rick Burton says the Dragons recruiting Armstead brings yet another high profile marketing executive in to the National Basketball landscape, following the NBL’s appointment of former Perth Glory CEO Jeff Dennis.

"We welcome Craig on board and see the addition of someone with his outstanding credentials as a sign of the NBL's continued re-surgence," said Burton.

"The League office also recently added highly-successful former Perth Glory CEO Jeff Denis and we are starting to see more and more proven performers from the private sector like Craig starting to put their trust in the Philips Championship.

"The League and our clubs have demonstrated our intention to implement world's best business practices in order to lift the NBL and we see it as a significant vote of confidence in our vision to have someone of Craig's experience join the NBL."

Armstead’s career highs: Marketing Director : Dulux Paints; Marketing Director & Joint General Manager : Mattel Toys; Marketing & Finance roles with Master Foods, Tabcorp, Simplot Australia.