Brent Smart has been appointed CMO of Telstra.
He starts in September, replacing Jeremy Nicholas, who will be Telstra’s digital channels executive.
“There aren’t many Australian brands that can play as big a role in culture as Telstra," Smart says.
"You can feel a real positive momentum in the business, it’s an exciting time to join and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
Smart is a former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi in New York and the managing director of BBDO in San Francisco.
He has spent the last five years as the CMO at IAG, where he led the brand transformation of NRMA, taking it from Australia’s 36th strongest brand up to 5th place in Brand Finance Australia’s July 2022 report.
At Telstra, Smart will be responsible for Telstra’s brand; media; sponsorship and award programs; consumer, small business and enterprise marketing and proposition development; marketing automation and internal design studio.
He will report to the new group executive, consumer and small business when they are appointed.
Michael Ackland, Telstra’s group executive of consumer and small business said: “Brent is a highly accomplished creative and commercial leader with a passion for people and storytelling, coupled with a wealth of global experience from working with some of the world’s biggest brands.
“Brent’s appointment comes at a natural inflection point as we complete our T22 transformation and embark on our new T25 strategy. Telstra plays a critical role in keeping Australians connected and we’re looking forward to seeing how Brent continues to strengthen the Telstra brand through his work.
“I’d also like to thank and congratulate Jeremy Nicholas for his exceptional work as our CMO over the last four years – a transformational period for Telstra’s Marketing team, during which he also led the hugely successful Australia is Why brand campaign. Jeremy will now bring his deep customer expertise, rich insight and customer focus to our digital channel experiences.”
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