Late last year, the marketing industry was rocked by the news that Lisa Ronson, chief marketing officer of Medibank had died following a tragic accident on her farm in Daylesford, Victoria.
In preparation for releasing our CMO Power List, presented by atn, next month, B&T sat down with Ronson in November. It was clear from talking to the storied former Coles and Tourism Australia marketing chief that she had plenty in mind for Medibank and was thoroughly enjoying her work. Ronson will appear posthumously on B&T’s CMO Power List 2025.
Throughout her chat with B&T, Ronson was, as many would remember her, laughing, energetic, interesting and interested. She was also humble, realistic and open.
“There’s a genuine smile on my face for a reason,” Ronson told B&T.
“I’ve got three things that I wanted: people, purpose, culture,” she continued. “It’s a great place to work. Everyone thinks that they have a great place to work but [Medibank] is really set apart from any place I’ve ever worked—and I’ve worked in some absolutely cracking organisations.”
Ronson explained that while a number of organisations have “got their head” around what a genuine purpose is, Medibank’s focus on improving the health of all Australians permeates the company at all levels.
“Everyone in the company is going really hard after that and genuinely believes it in their DNA,” she said.
“I’ve worked in a lot of different places that have been at different phases in getting to what their true vision and purpose are. It’s inspiring that it’s set [at Medibank] and it’s one that everyone’s really galvanised behind. It’s very refreshing. It’s great.”
Medibank has not had the easiest time in recent years. Its 2022 cyberattack saw the personal information of some 9.7 million people spread across the dark web by an alleged Russian cybercriminal gang. When contacted to pay a ransom for the data, Medibank CEO David Koczkar, in line with accepted wisdom, refused to pay, adding “you can’t trust a criminal”.
Against this backdrop, one of Ronson’s key tasks was to lift Medibank back into a position of trust among Australian consumers. Following the data breach, it became the 14th most distrusted brand in the country, according to Roy Morgan. By the end of last year, it had risen to become the 19th least trusted brand.
“We have recovered a lot, and that’s not down to me walking in the door. The recovery was well and truly underway before I came into it,” Ronson said.
“What’s heartening is that while it was a devastating incident for the business… the brand did, to a certain degree, hold up pretty well. That was largely down to the great communication that Medibank did with its membership base. It’s not as if I was walking into something that was completely broken.
“My set of problems, so to speak, are a completely different set of problems. It’s a set of opportunities. There are some clear opportunities that we feel very passionately about. It’s a competitive sector, so I can’t wait.
She continued: “We are working really collaboratively as a business towards a couple of lights on the hill in the very short term and the longer term. It’s customer-focused and pulling all of the levers within our business from our customer group, of which marketing is a part, through to our clinicians to external affairs. It’s really, really exciting.”
Prior to joining Medibank, Ronson moved to Melbourne to become Coles’ CMO—steering the business through the COVID pandemic. When Ronson featured on the B&T CMO Power List in 2023, she told us that having a clear marketing message helped the brand sail through the pandemic.
“For us knowing our place in society and leaning into and stepping in to help our customers and team when they are feeling anxious, like our safety messaging. What it did was repositioned us in the community by being essential workers that were there everyday,” she said at the time.
“And that leads to us launching ‘Value The Australian Way’ last year as a nod to the role we play in the Australian community.”
Before that, Ronson served as the CMO for Tourism Australia and collected—in Ronson’s words—“just a few” Cannes Lions in 2018 thanks to the star-studded ‘DUNDEE – The Son of a Legend Returns Home’ campaign. In fact, the campaign picked up 10 gongs.
Before that, Ronson was the CMO at Westpac and has worked at other blue chip companies including Telstra and Carlton United Brewery.
It’s a career that many would be envious of, but there was so much more to Ronson than creating great marketing communications. Alongside her work at Medibank, she served on the board of Wheelchair Rugby Australia, was an investor and advisor to Journey Maker and an adjunct professor at Deakin University.
“I want to give back to the industry. I really feel fortunate to work in this industry and to have worked with some of the very, very best people that I still remain friends with. I have a healthy dose of appreciation, I help out where I can and to help young marketers come up through the ranks. Mentoring is really important to me because it’s helped me through my career,” she said.
In October, it was announced that Medibank would be the official health partner of 36 Months, the campaign to raise the age of social media citizenship in Australia. Shortly after Ronson passed away, it was passed by Parliament.
Michael ‘Wippa’ Wiplfi, a long-term friend of Ronson set up the 36 months campaign with Finch boss Rob Galluzzo. At Ronson’s memorial last year, Wipfli said that Ronson’s support and energy for the cause was pivotal to the campaign’s success.
Ronson told B&T: “What really resonated with us as an organisation was very much the passion that 36 Months had around wanting young people to know who they are before they put themselves out into the world. I think there’s something genuinely good in that.
“On my second day at Medibank, we had a workshop with the father of a young man who took his own life based on what was happening to him on social media. It was truly heartbreaking and there are a lot of stories like that.
“If 36 Months can prevent one, then it’s worth supporting. It’s a genuine partnership. They want a health partner that they can learn from and will undertake research and those sorts of things. It’s not going to solve everything, there’s no silver bullet for anything in the health space or any space. It’s just working away in different areas.”
Ronson’s passion for 36 Months, Medibank and the marketing industry was truly infectious and energising. She was personable, kind and funny. She will be sorely missed.
