Austbrokers appoints new head of marketing

Australian insurance broking group, Austbrokers, has appointed a new head of marketing as it looks to tackle additional business streams and personalise its customer approach.

Australian-born Vanessa Lyons has spent the past three years in Chicago as head of marketing for international banking and payments business, Discover Financial Services, and has more than 13 years’ experience in senior marketing positions. Her resume also includes stints at Superpartners, Telstra and Phillips Electronics.

At Austbrokers, she will be responsible for marketing strategy as well as managing public relations, events, communications and investor relations. Lyons is also tasked with developing customer-specific propositions and campaigns.

She replaces Meg Hurley, who has become the new general manager of marketing and consumer insights at the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, and reports into the chief operating officer, Sunil Vohra .

In a statement, Austbrokers Holdings CEO and managing director, Mark Searles, said Lyons’ marketing pedigree and experience in business development was important as the group looks to expand its value proposition to support network partners, new acquisitions and business prospects.

“She has demonstrated a deep appreciation and understanding of the Austbrokers’ Owner-Driver model, our strategy and strong growth agenda,” he stated. “We are pleased to have secured someone of Vanessa’s calibre as we continue to build our marketing and communications capability to support a number of streams of activity.”

Lyons will be working out of the company’s Melbourne and Sydney offices.

“With such a powerful and promising growth outlook, I’m looking forward to complementing the next phase of Austbrokers’ success with marketing excellence across all elements for the group,” she stated.

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