Well connected

Transforming Telstra from a disenfranchised company that didn’t care into one that truly puts customers first was at the heart of the telco’s rebrand. One year on, Lucy Clark talks to marketing director Inese Kingsmill
Three years ago, there wasn’t a lot of love out there for Telstra. It was perceived as a telco that didn’t care.
And it was at that time that Inese Kingsmill joined as corporate marketing director. She took on the challenge of reconnecting the brand with Aussies and proving to the cynical public that Telstra had turned over a new leaf and really was putting customers first, as the then-new CEO David Thodey was publicly promising.
It didn’t take Kingsmill long to become a self-confessed “passionate Telstran”.
“The opportunity to be able to revitalise and reposition such a significant iconic Australian brand was a privilege,” she recalls. “What excited me was that the transformation David Thodey was driving to become a far more customer-centric business was very real. It was not lip service being paid – you could already see and feel that this was a company that was starting to change.”
What followed for Kingsmill was almost a year working on the Telstra rebrand, which launched in September 2011.
“The timing of that launch was important – the conditions were right,” she says. “We noticed that sentiment towards Telstra was becoming more positive, in terms of customer satisfaction, media coverage and brand health. So the relaunch was not met with cynicism.”
But the journey wasn’t easy and Tesltra had a lot of bridges to build.
“It was a brand that, over time, had disenfranchised itself with the Australian people for various reasons,” explains Kingsmill. “But now, Telstra has an absolute determination to get it right for the customer. That’s not to say that the company didn’t care about customers before – it did. But what’s changed is this obsession with getting it right for the customer and recognising that we have got a lot of work to do.”
On top of this, Telstra was lumbered with a very corporate brand identity. “Even the corporate palette was blue and white with a bit of orange,” remembers Kingsmill. “Creative agencies felt that the brand was a bit of a straightjacket, which resulted in them trying to break out of that straightjacket – and that meant a fragmented image for Telstra in the marketplace.
“One of the things we have been able to do with the new brand is to create principles and a brand ecosystem that’s more flexible.”
The new brand is all about ‘connection’.
“Connection is a fundamental human right,” says Kingsmill. “Our leadership position and heritage in this country gives us that ownership position around enabling connection.”
That hard work has paid off. “Today, our brand health is the strongest that it’s ever been, in traditional brand measures but also our share price outpaced the ASX200 by over 30% in the last financial year,” explains Kingsmill. “And customer satisfaction measures are the strongest they have ever been.”
Sydney born and bred and married to Mambo managing director Angus Kingsmill, she has worked in marketing throughout her career – at Microsoft for 16 years before joining Telstra – but believes current times are the toughest.
“As marketers, we are living through the digital equivalent of the industrial revolution,” she says. “The biggest challenge that we face is the rapid rate of change that technology is enabling. We are always on.
“We have got to appreciate that we operate in a four-screen society, and we need to be able to create engaging and compelling content for each of these. We have got to get a whole lot more agile, so experiment more as well.”
Kingsmill cites Tesltra’s Sportsfan app and its loyalty program, Thanks, as innovative work from the telco, and says Telstra is finding its feet when it comes to content marketing.
“We are still testing and learning what content is relevant, engaging and entertaining, what is it in long and short form, and what the mechanisms for distributing it are,” she says.
Another string to Kingsmill’s bow is her role as chairman of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA). The association has had a busy year, appointing new CEO Sunita Gloster and reflecting on its role in the industry.
Kingsmill says: “One thing we need to address is the rapid rate of change that marketers are dealing with, and helping marketers deal with that change. Another area is the issue of marketing as a respected profession. We are drastically under-represented as a profession at CEO and board level – that’s something the AANA wants to address.”
As for Telstra, customer service remains the number one priority. “I would like to see Telstra get a lot further in our ambition to provide a brilliant consumer experience,” says Kingsmill. “This is our number one priority.”
And she has ambitions that stretch far beyond that: “We have a clearly stated ambition to be Australia’s most loved brand. We know we have got a lot of work to do, but it has to be our ambition.”
With all that on her plate, the mum of two teenagers says she loves nothing more than a schedule-free weekend when she can enjoy her “sanity release” – her weekend run around her Northern Beaches neighbourhood.
“I am a homebody at weekends because Monday to Friday is always a bit nuts,” she concludes.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Latest News

Havas & Reckitt Unleash “Flyhunt” Campaign for Mortein, Turning Billions of Flies into Billions of Ads
With the “Louie The Flyhunt” campaign, Australians are invited to participate in a unique experience that combines traditional manhunt tropes with cutting-edge technology. Set against the backdrop of the opening of Australia’s fly season, Mortein’s campaign features the notorious Australian icon, Louie the Fly, as the target in a thrilling fly hunt. Wanted posters featuring […]

REVEALED: Australia’s Greatest-Ever Ad!!!
You voted and now B&T can reveal Australia's greatest EVER ad! Yes, Ali Baba Kebabs can feel rightly aggrieved.

The Royals & Ryvalmedia Win Big In B&T’s Top-Performing Agencies For November
Which agency chiefs will be collecting their Christmas bonuses? Discover the truth with this 'who's hot' barometer.

George P. Johnson Announces Leadership Changes
Changes at the top at George P. Johnson today. The middle and the bottom given the order to stand down.

Monday TV Ratings: The 1% Club Scores Seven A Win
Game shows continuing to rate well with TV viewers. Yet, that's not to say we need Andrew O'Keefe back anytime soon.

Free TV Comes Out Swinging Over Sports Rights After Amazon Snares The Cricket
Industry body says free TV sports rights are under threat. Meanwhile Wallabies declare they've all but given up.

Westpac Shows Optus How To Apologise
Westpac delivers on its crisis communication. Also see Westpac board trying to save their collective arses.

Triple J Announces Hottest 100 2023 Dates
This year's Hottest 100 deets announced. With B&T predicting big things for Nollsy's KFC ad.

A Professional Cheese Sculptor Stars For Wacky Ads For US University
Hating the job right now? These uni ads could (A) inspire you to new things or (B) give you a laugh, albeit a brief one.

Don’t Be THAT Perfectionist….Enter B&T’s 30 Under 30 Awards, Presented By Vevo, Now!
Work with people who endlessly say "things were better in my day"? Sounds like you're a real contender for 30 Under 30.

We Are Warriors & R/GA To Produce City Of Sydney’s Calling Country & New Year’s Eve Fireworks
Social Indigenous Enterprise We Are Warriors (WAW), supported by creative innovation studio R/GA Australia, has been selected to produce the City of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Calling Country live performance as part of the 9pm firework show. Lead image L-R: WAW co-founders Ben Miles & Nooky. The performance will feature a special Welcome to Country […]

Data Is King. So How Can Marketers Survive Privacy Reforms?
There's a fine line between proper use of customer data and a $50K fine from the ACCC. Save your cash with this read.

Chery Launches New Tiggo 7 Pro In Australian Market With Creative Campaign Via Chello
Chinese EVs continuing to flood into the Aussie market. Clearly no reciprocal agreement with our wine and barley.

Isuzu UTE Extends A-Leagues Partnership Through To 2026
Isuzu UTE extends its A-Leagues partnership. Also desperately hoping the fans don't behave like dickheads.

Seven Network Unveils New Advanced Advertising Division
Seven unveils its new advanced advertising division. No sign of official scarlet red team tracksuits, however.

“Give An F About the Flags”: Surf Life Saving Australia Launches Summer Campaign Via Banter
Every Australian should know to swim between the flags. That and Bradman's average and most of the words to Khe Sanh.

Toyota & HCLTech To Appear On Aussie Cricketers’ Shirts This Summer
You can almost hear leather on willow with this news. Unless someone's being attacked with a cricket bat in your office.

G Squared Bolsters Paid Media & Search With Key Hires
G Squared announces key hires in its paid search team. Although we appreciate not everyone's a fan of paid search.

“Extinction Greenwashing”: Supermarkets Target Of ACCC Complaint Over Misleading Salmon Claims
Yet again claims about Tasmanian salmon catch watchdog's ire, as chickens declare we're ridgy-didge.

Droga5 London Launches First Campaign For ADV New Motorcycle
Unsure if you're in the throes of a possible midlife crisis? Watch this motorbike ad and learn the horrible truth.

Mediahub Expands Into New Zealand Market
Mediahub unveils its New Zealand plans. And it only took the locals four minutes to mention the rugby.

It Takes A Village: Havas Drives Off With Avis Budget Group’s Media & Earned PR
There are few greater joys in life than flogging the shit out of a rental car, is there?

Amazon Prime Secures Rights To Next Cricket World Cup
Judging by the acrimony, sledging & hatred of last month's Cricket World Cup, the next one's shaping up to be a ripper.

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime
With just over 24 hours to go until the world premiere of Addy Lala and the Mood Tea Thieves, limited tickets are still available for the pantomime, which will run for one night only at the Everest Theatre in Sydney’s Seymour Centre on December 5th. All in the industry are encouraged to come along to […]

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network
Specialist Australian health PR agency, Palin Communications, has joined GlobalCom PR Network with a view to delivering meaningful, consistent, impactful, global health campaigns across a range of countries and regions.

Axe-Wielding Eric Andre Stars In Opera GX Campaign, Via Waste Creatives
Irreverent campaign for Opera GX, the browser for gamers, sees actor and comedian Eric Andre confronting people using “boring” browsers

Make it your way at Highpoint Via Cyclone Creative Agency
Highpoint is inviting Melbournians to embrace what makes them different, through their ‘Make it Your Way’ campaign via Cyclone Creative agency.

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore
2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge. Lead Image: 2045 Team Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. […]

Pengu Dances Their Way Through New Film by electriclime°
Production house electriclime° have linked up with Riot Games to create a new film to celebrate the launch of Teamfight Tactics Mobile (“TFT”) in Asia Pacific.

National Breast Cancer Foundation Announced as Charity Partner For NYE Sydney
The National Breast Cancer Foundation has been announced as the Charity Partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve. The Australian not-for-profit organisation is represented by the pink ribbon and raises money to fund world-class research towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. Research that saves lives through a better understanding of how to prevent […]

Sunday TV Ratings: Brits Dominate With Annika, Joanna Lumley And David Attenborough Making Top 10
Sunday night strangely dominated by UK-made content. That said, Piers not getting a heap of love over at Sky.

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”
This holiday season, Emporium Melbourne has announced its festive creative campaign that celebrates and encourages the Melbourne community to embrace their personal ‘untraditional traditions’ – the unique traditions that make Christmas truly special for them, and their family. The campaign’s tagline, “Every tradition starts somewhere”, reflects Emporium’s commitment to embracing, inspiring and applauding diverse traditions […]

Stop Being A Water Waster! Sydney Schoolboy Urges Everyone To Save Water, Via It’s Friday
Planning a staff dunking booth this Christmas? Not too late to switch to 10-pin bowling with this water save campaign.

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats
Reddit has announced updates to its new ads placement with Carousel Ads and Product Ads. These new units, placed in the heart of Reddit discussions, provide an even more dynamic and compelling way for advertisers to scale to relevant audiences, deliver deeper value to users, and drive stronger, full-funnel performance among the hundreds of thousands […]

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts
Automotive Network Drive has announced its 2024 upfronts, its biggest in more than a decade, with a suite of more than 12 new products that underpin its vision to be the number one automotive network in Australia. Now in its 27th year and with a monthly audience of 2.45 million, Drive is leveraging its reputation […]

Journalist Tegan George Suing Network 10 After Being Left With “Trauma” From Bushfire Reporting
It's been a rocky road for many people & agencies in 2023; however, it's been all sunshine & rainbows for 10's lawyers.