Telstra names IAG's Brent Smart as new CMO, replacing Jeremy Nicholas

News 29 Jun 2022 - 4 min read

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Tags: Brent Smart Telstra Jeremy Nicholas

Telstra has named Brent Smart, former Saatchi & Saatchi CEO turned IAG CMO, to lead its 300-strong marketing team as Chief Marketing Officer. He’ll take over from Jeremy Nicholas, who announced in April he would be moving to lead the digital sales and service channels.

What you need to know:

Brent Smart has been named Telstra’s new CMO after a “lengthy” search. He takes over from Jeremy Nicholas, who moved sideways to lead the telco’s digital sales and service channels.
Smart starts in September.

Telstra has named IAG chief marketer Brent Smart to lead its 300-strong marketing team as CMO after a “lengthy search” – replacing Jeremy Nicholas, who moved from the role to lead the company’s digital sales and service channels.

Smart, who starts in the new role in September, has been IAG’s CMO for more than five years. He joined IAG after a decade-long stint in the US, where he was CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi in New York and Managing Director of BBDO in San Francisco.

Since he took the reins at IAG, one of its brands, NRMA, has gone from the 36^th to fifth “strongest”, according to Brand Finance Australia’s latest report.

In a statement, Telstra said Smart would be responsible for Telstra’s brand, media, sponsorship and award programs, as well as consumer, small business and enterprise marketing, proposition development, marketing automation and its internal design studio.

He will report to the new Group Executive of Consumer and Small Business – when they are appointed.

Michael Ackland, Telstra’s current 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.”

Ackland also congratulated 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.”

Smart said: “There aren’t many Australian brands that can play as big a role in culture as Telstra. 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.”