Last week I read in Marketing Magazine's "Marketing Daily" that Wade Oosterman is leaving Telus. From the brief ...
After a merger of its wireless and wireline businesses late last month, Telus has eliminated the position of chief marketing officer leaving Wade Oosterman out of a job.
When Telus announced the reorganization Nov. 24, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle called Oosterman “the architect of Telus’s leading brand and an invaluable leader in delivering the enormous success of Telus Mobility over the years.” But as a result of the merger, the new leadership team at Telus was trimmed to nine executives from 12 and Entwistle said the company was in discussions with Oosterman about a new role with Telus.
“The outcome of the discussions is that a suitable alternative role for Mr. Oosterman has not been found,” stated a press release Thursday. “No replacement will be appointed as the position of CMO is not present in the new merged executive reporting structure.”
[Disclosure: I used to be a Telus customer, but they were going to make me sign a 3-year contract to get a decent price on a new phone, after I had been a non-contractual customer for 5 years. So I left and went to Virgin.]
To me, one of the best things that Telus has going for them is the visual manifestation of their brand. They have a clean, distinct, engaging look. Charge Oosterman with trying to bring their entire brand experience in line ... don't just dump him from the exec team. He could focus on customer service, the call centre, better service plans ... any and all touchpoints with the customer. Why is there not a CMO at the executive table?
This is another case of the executive not understanding the importance of marketing and communications at the exec table. They probably have more than enough suits to go around. Why not have at least one person who knows what resonates with the public? Ridiculous.
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