Qantas marketing boss Lewis Pullen exits as Olivia Wirth steps up
Qantas marketing director Lewis Pullen is leaving the organisation after three years, with corporate affairs chief Olivia Wirth taking responsibility for the airline marketing function too.
During his time Pullen led wide ranging shifts of the organisation’s global agency arrangements, running a wide ranging media and creative pitch which saw duties for the global creative lead account switched to Droga5. However , 12 months on, no major work from Droga5 has yet emerged. (1.45pm update: Qantas says that Droga5 remains as its lead agency).
Pullen also led the repositioning of the brand under the new line of “You’re the reason we fly”, along with a new piece of music created by Silverchair’s Daniel Johns.
According to the announcement, Pullen will leave at the end of June.
That’s my boy
great news for corporate affairs leaders looking to expand their remit
my sense is that this will be a growing trend due to the rise of social and the various reputational stuff ups wrought by marketing folks with no PR sensibility
corporate affairs people bring a broader reputational understanding, a better understanding of editorial angles for content marketing, a better understanding of the overall business in which they work and are generally more cost-efficient because they’re used to being effective using much smaller budgets
this is the way of the future, marketing folks!
It happens very rarely, usually it’s the other way around, with marketing having corporate affairs reporting into it in some structures I’ve worked in/seen. Can’t see it becoming a trend though. The marketing directors won’t give up that territory.
The heads are still rolling after the “your the reason we fly’ fiasco. how much collateral damage can a kangaroo bear?
Congratulations Andrew and Olivia.
PR Pro, in which company have you seen corporate affairs report into marketing?
ps…i just think we saw a Marketing Director being forced to give up his territory. Just sayin’….
Talk to Holden, patriotism in purchase is dead. Get me there, as cheap as possible, and don’t crash. Don’t care who it’s with. It’s not about the flight anymore, it’s all about the destination. Most people would happily stand on their heads naked if it meant a $35 flight to Bali!!!!
I love it, it highlights complexities of organisational communication these days and how you cant afford a fragmented approach with your brand. Marketing, Comms and Media have to get some synergy happening.
@Groucho… there is no substitute for Koala Tea
Wasn’t Olivia in charge of the dreadful PR debacle when Joyce gave a big fuck you to his customers and grounded the fleet, leaving travellers stranded and their plans ruined all around the world?
It’s certainly a courageous decision as they say on Yes Minister
HI Sally,
She was in charge of the communications, not the decision to ground the fleet. You may recall that considering what was going on, the comms were very good, even if the message was unpalatable.
I think you may be shooting the messenger somewhat…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
She was also in charge of the message when the A380 suffered some grief out of Singapore. It was a textbook example of crisis mangement.
None of these examples of good PR of course point to any marketing expertise.
It seems Pullen is the sacrificial lamb for an appallingly amateurish corporate campaign no doubt signed off by all at the time , including Wirth & Joyce. His mistake was his choice of creative ‘guru’
Like the Emirates alliance, the fleet grounding, to list just a couple this change will be another in a line of dumb decisions as this once proud airline heads for a wheels up landing.
@Groucho… Well said. And essentially the same as mine, except my comment is still awaiting confirmation…
otherwise known as ‘moderation’
@Groucho, Qantas is clearly saying that PR is more important to the company than marketing, and WIrth’s intelligence & mgt capabilities are sufficient that she’ll have the ability to get across her new brief. At her level the skills she needs are mgt skills – how to identify and recruit the specialist disciplines and how to keep her team focussed and motivated etc
@nell schofield you are probably right. Clearly they expect crisis management to be more pressing than competing for passengers. Scary isn’t it?