Andrew Howie exiting Westpac to join Amazon as head of brand
Westpac’s head of advertising, Andrew Howie, is set to depart the bank after nine months for a new role as Amazon’s head of brand, Mumbrella can reveal.
Howie joined Westpac in November last year from his previous role as Meat and Livestock Australia’s group marketing manager, where he was at the helm of the meat brand’s controversial Australia Day campaigns which included Operation Boomerang and 2016’s January campaign.
Howie is exiting the bank after nine months in the role
Last year MLA created its most political ad yet, naming the work its “January campaign” and leaving out any reference to Australia Day.
During his time at Meat and Livestock Australia, the marketer also obtained a reputation for being an outspoken voice in the industry, stating “most marketers are crap” at a Mumbrella OMA event in June last year.
At the time of his appointment as Westpac’s head of advertising, Howie said: “I’m looking forward to joining the team to create globally recognised effective and creative advertising.”
Howie joins Amazon’s marketing team alongside former Samsung CMO Arno Lenior, who joined the business in December last year.
Since then Amazon appointed TBWA and Ogilvy to its creative account and handed its PR account to Daniel J Edelman Holdings (DJE Holdings).
Meanwhile, IPG Mediabrands set up an independent entity after winning the global media planning and buying account for Amazon.
Howie declined to comment while Westpac and Amazon had not responded to Mumbrella at the time of publishing.
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never felt like a good fit at Westpac. let’s hope he can find his feet at Amazon
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What an amazing, leonine head of hair!
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IMHO brash, look-at-me, rock star wannabes type marketers make poor leaders over time… they are good at marketing themselves but I’ll never hire them.
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Looks like he already has a job so shouldn’t be too worried.
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