Former Telstra marketer Amanda Johnston-Pell returns to Australia with IBM role
New IBM CMO: Johnston-Pell
The appointment of Amanda Johnston-Pell as head of marketing for IBM in the Australia/New Zealand region signals the return of a marketer famed for meetings were staff were urged to dance and role play.
Her appointment comes six years after she left her role as director of brands and marketing at Telstra where she oversaw a range of initiatives including the launch of Telstra’s 4G network and the creation of the award winning Rabbits campaign by agency BWM.
All eyes will now be on whether Johnston-Pell will seek to put her own stamp on the brand’s Australian marketing and possibly even extend its agency roster.
Well there will be interesting times ahead for IBM’s marketing team and agencies. Wonder if she will reinstate the agency dance routine every Monday morning like she insisted on at Telstra
congratulations Amanda. Very well deserved. I’m sure there will b exciting times ahead for IBM.
Surely Amanda deserves the opportunity to return to the industry without this kind of regurgitation?
oh IBM, what wonders await you..
Johnston-Pell was not universally popular with subordinates, but given its been 6 years, she probably does deserve the chance to start again without all the bad news being dug up again.
All of us can stuff things up, but its only fair to allow people a 2nd chance and to grow and improve and its fair again to extend that opportunity to senior management like Johnston-Pell.
I am sure she has grown and I imagine the humiliaiting compulsory dancing in meetings are a thing of the past.
Live and let live – as I mentioned everyone deserves a 2nd chance
There was nothing more humiliating than dancing in front of special guests at Telstra, I guess we will be standing by for BMW to be announced on the roster at IBM – its only a matter of time. I won’t be asking for a ticket on the IBM bus, that’s for sure.
Thank you Mumbrella for publishing a small sample of the delights of working at Telstra – dancing at SOW meetings, bus tickets, hedgehog awards, sparkle quotient and elastic KPIs. When I tell people about my experience there, they say I am exaggerating, so it is good to have it in print. [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Imagine the uproar if a male executive had coerced his subordinate staff (some of them female) to dance in meetings.
Let me tell u my experience, I can only recall a couple of meetings where there was dancing, perhaps there was more but surprisingly I wasn’t scarred by the event so six years on that’s all I remember. I do remember all the amazing guests we had in those meetings who left me feeling energised and inspired for the week. I also remember the great work shared by colleagues and our agencies. I’m also proud to this day of some of the work I was able to b a part of under Amanda’s leadership. I also remember y I’m glad to have left this industry. Petty vindictiveness wrapped up in passive aggressiveness is an unattractive trait and sadly to often it’s directed at female executives and not their male counterparts. I’m sry some of these posters are so angry, and I hope one day they learn to let go rather than tear other people down. Trust me you will b a happier person when u do. Again congratulations Amanda and IBM is fortunate to have u with them
Congrats AJ.
Amanda could always see through advertising spin and she’ll always have my respect for her tenacity and marketing nous. I never had to dance, never needed a ticket, but I’ll tell you this, I’d rather someone try new ideas and fail, then be afraid of trying.
This is so wrong, but so typical for the men of mumbrella.
It’s 2016! Lets celebrate that a talented woman has broken into a notorious man club not just as CMO but also as a Board director.