Andy Lark out at Foxtel as Kieren Cooney appointed CMO
Foxtel’s marketing ranks have had a further shakeup with REA Group’s Kieren Cooney joining the subscription TV broadcaster as chief sales and marketing officer, replacing veteran marketer Andy Lark, who joined Foxtel as CMO in January.
In a statement, Foxtel said Lark is leaving the business after the successful roll out of the new brand positioning, the launch of Foxtel’s 4K channel and the unveiling of Fox Cricket last week.
Lark was appointed Foxtel’s CMO a week before Patrick Delany deposed former CEO Peter Tonagh. Since taking the reins at the subscription TV provider, Delany has made a number of key appointments including former Nine MD, Amanda Laing as commercial director and Diageo Australia’s former marketing and innovation director Adam Ballesty as head of sports marketing.
New Zealand-born Lark first came to prominence as global vice president for public and large enterprise marketing at technology vendor Dell, where he established a reputation for his digital savviness, and was one of the first CMOs to regularly blog.
Lark left CBA in 2013 to join to join New Zealand technology company Xero as its global CMO, a position he held for two years.
CEO Patrick Delany said: “I would like to thank Andy for helping shape the company’s future direction. We asked him to do a specific job for us and I am grateful for the major role he played at such a critical time.”
Lark added: “We’ve restored momentum to the Foxtel brand and created experiences that customers are embracing. What the team has been able to achieve over the past year is just the beginning. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to have played a part in the future of Australia’s leading home entertainment brand.”
Cooney joins Foxtel from REA Group which he joined as CMO in March 2017, having previously been CEO of Interbrand Australia. He arrived in Australia to become the inaugural chief marketer for NBN Co in 2011, having served as Telecom New Zealand’s CMO.
REA Group CEO Tracey Fellows said: “During his year-and-a-half with us, Kieren has made a significant impact, both as an expert marketer and as a strategic advisor within the executive.
“The marketing streams of work that we have in place are seeing us break audience records and brand health metrics – and they have strong momentum behind them. He has united the many parts of marketing – the brand, the data, the audiences, the channels – with one key principle we apply across the business: people are at the centre of it all. In this way, he has helped people emotionally connect to what we do.”
Cooney’s last day at REA will be 26 October and he will commence in his new role at Foxtel on 29 October. REA Group has begun a search for their new chief marketing officer. In the interim, REA’s marketing and content team will report into executive general manager of residential, Andrew Rechtman.
Foxtel’s Delany said the realignment of the company’s functional teams ensured it was now structured to better meet its strategic goals.
Since Andy Lark took the helm of Foxtel’s marketing team, TBWA Sydney resigned its place on Foxtel’s roster in April.
That same month Marcel was added to Foxtel’s creative roster following TBWA’s resignation.
Meanwhile, in July DDB also picked up a spot on the roster and was put in charge of reimagining the brand. Mumbrella understands the agency is still working with the company and has secured a spot on its roster.
Mumbrella understands DDB’s PR arm Mango Communications has also been working with Foxtel.
Foxtel declined to comment on its agency roster following the restructure.
Jeez, what a revolving door that place is!
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I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
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…great.
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Does he get to keep the dots? They’re not using them any more
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Two very big personalities. Two Marketing Gurus. One is the CEO, and the other is no more….
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On January 22nd i said “oh dear”.
Vindicated.
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On January 22nd you anonymously posted two words .
On October 16th you anonymously posted again to claim some sort of victory.
Your parents must be so proud .
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Lark will simply be “spending more time with family” while “pursuing new opportunities” and Foxtel will “wish him well with his future endeavours”.
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Guess he was making his point here ….
https://which-50.com/cmo-tenure-linked-to-company-performance-andy-lark/
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Come on Mumbrella, we know you don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you, but are you, too, turning a blind eye to the question of leadership qualities?
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Another senior leader bites the dust at REA, it’s all smoke and mirrors in that joint.
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REA or Foxtel?
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No wonder recruitment businesses are killing it revenue wise right now
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Actually, it’s quite likely they would only get paid for placing Andy if he lasted 12 months.
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What recruiters are you working with?
Standard across the industry is pay up front, entitled to a “free” replacement if they don’t make it past probation.
“free” candidate offered is rarely if ever placed, continue pattern ad naseum
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Another Defence against the Dark Arts teacher…
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You need to bleed in order to survive the Foxtel/Newscorp politics. GOOD LUCK To any execs that have the balls
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Andy Lark – “leaving” a third company, like never before…….
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Congratulations to Keiren a top bloke indeed.
Good luck to DDB, karma is a dish best served cold.
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it’s almost like retention should be the responsibility of the employer
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18 months at REA. Soft marketing. Give him 18 months at Foxtel.
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So the career trajectory of Xero to hero didn’t play out.
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There must be a point , where an employable person, moving around for the 4 or 5th time in as many years , must make you unemployable…. for fear of you not lasting the distance. Am I wrong?
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Jeepers, this combined with the new cooking show featuring taxi drivers says a lot about the current state of marketing in Australia. We’re running out of ideas aren’t we…
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I think readers can gain greater insights from this banter than the article …and its far more entertaining.
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I was there and leadership style is an issue….PS. Lark had nothing to do with the dots.
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I have read so many articles about the blogger lovers however
this paragraph is genuinely a pleasant piece
of writing, keep it up.
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“18 months at REA. Soft marketing. Give him MAYBE 18 months at Foxtel.” Spot on but its likely he never had a chance.
REA has absolutely woeful marketing, confused with politics confusing the messaging.
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