Provident Music Group (PMG) has announced the hiring of Ben Howard as senior vice president of marketing for Provident Label Group. Howard replaces Dean Diehl, who is leaving the company to pursue a career in higher education. Diehl will remain with Provident in a consulting role through the end of August.

PMG President and CEO Terry Hemmings said Howard was “an experienced marketing and management professional as well as a trusted confidant and friend. We are looking forward to the new ideas and energy that Ben will bring to us as we navigate the future of Christian music.”

Howard served as Provident Films senior vice president after serving as vice president of sales and marketing for Provident's Reunion Records label. From 1997 to 2003, Howard was vice president of marketing for Big Idea Productions, creator of the popular VeggieTales series.

As senior vice president of Provident Films, Howard recently oversaw the marketing of Facing the Giants, the $100,000 movie produced by a Georgia church that earned more than $10 million in theaters last year and has been at the top of the DVD charts since its release in late January, PMG officials said.