UPDATED: Andy Lark quits as CommBank CMO

One of Australia’s most notable chief marketing officers, Andy Lark, has resigned from the Commonwealth Bank to pursue other interests.

Andy Lark

According to a statement from the banking group, its chief executive of Bankwest retail, Vittoria Shortt, will take the reins as interim group CMO until a replacement is found. Prior to running the Bankwest Retail team, Shortt was the executive GM of direct channels.

Lark joined CBA in July 2011 and is best known for relaunching the CommBank brand through the ‘Can’campaign, along with spearheading the group’s social, digital and mobile strategies. In its statement, CommBank thanks Lark for his contribution and highlighted the success of the ‘Can’ initiatives in terms of brand metrics, business performance and customer satisfaction.

Prior to joining the bank, Lark was vice-president of global marketing for Dell’s public and large enterprise group. He has also held a variety of roles covering marketing and online within the technology space including start-ups such as LogLogic, along with tier-one brands Sun Microsystems and Nortel Networks.

Lark’s final day has not been disclosed. In a blog post on his personal site, <i>The Daily Lark</i>, he confirmed his decision to depart CommBank and claimed his the near two-year stint had been an amazing journey. Lark claimed the time was right to leave because of the progess made to date and thanked his team and agency partners.

"In 2011 I joined CommBank with the specific aims of working with you to relaunch our brand, enhance our marketing effectiveness and accelerate our momentum in digital, mobile and social," he stated.

"We have made incredible progress on all fronts but more importantly have made it simpler and easier for our customers to engage and bank with us. Today they enjoy doing business with us more than any other bank. Our brand and marketing resonates more than ever. And we are engaging our customers through industry leading applications and social platforms. I am enormously proud that our work together has had such a positive impact."

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