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Kingsmill and Bateman leave Telstra following marketing shake-up, as network crashes again

Kingsmill has decided not to stay with the telco

Kingsmill: “It’s been a pretty intense life”

The shake-up at Telstra’s marketing department under Joe Pollard has continued with Inese Kingsmill and Andy Batemen both opting to leave the business after their roles were abolished.

Kingsmill and Bateman had been looking at opportunities within Telstra after the reshuffle which resulted in a single position overseeing brand created and a global search for the role, which is still underway.

Kingsmill told Mumbrella she had looked at a number of opportunities within Telstra but had decided to move on.

“l did seriously consider some internal options and it has been a real privilege,” Kingsmill said. “It’s been a pretty intense life.”

Kingsmill said the highlight of her time at Telstra was the transformation of the brand under the leadership of former CEO David Thodey.

“I think you have to look at the relaunch of the brand and transformation vision over the past five years,” she said.

“And in February this year Telstra was named Australia’s most valuable brand.”

Since her appointment 18 months ago, Pollard has overseen a transformation of the marketing function, with a number of senior staff, including business with director of digital media and content Adam Good, IPTV boss Eric Kearley, and Telstra TV MD Ian Davis, all leaving the telco.

Bateman's highlight developing Telstra's purpose and values

Bateman: “My highlight was working on Telstra’s purpose and values with David Thodey”

Bateman looked after marketing for Telstra’s customer segments and was also responsible for building and running its customer insight centres in Sydney and Melbourne.

The former Worldwide CEO of The Leading Edge told Mumbrella he was looking at a wide range of opportunities both in marketing and leadership.

“It’s been a great privilege to be a part of it and seeing it become Australia’s most valuable brand,” Bateman said.

“My personal highlight was working on Telstra’s purpose and values with David Thodey.”

The revelation that both Kingsmill and Bateman are leaving Telstra comes on the same day the telco suffered its third network breakdown in just two months after a major network breakdown last week.

Simon Canning

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