Helloworld scraps CMO role

Helloworld has confirmed its decision to scrap the chief marketing officer role within its business, a decision that has seen Kim Portrate leave the travel retailer.

In a statement, Helloworld managing director and CEO, Andrew Burnes, confirmed Portrate had left the company last Friday following an internal review.

“As part of the review into our operations and structures, I have made the decision to have the marketing team report directly into the retail division and as a result, the role of chief marketing officer has been removed,” he said. This sees marketing report directly to Julie Primmer.

Portrate joined Helloworld in July 2013 after spending five years at Tourism Australia and was charged with managing the group’s brand and customer service transformation. The mammoth task involved consolidating five 40-year-old legacy travel brands, as well as managing hundreds of supplier and SMB franchise relationships.

Portrate was also the executive sponsor and project leader for a program of work to create Helloworld’s first unified CRM system, out of 18 separate legacy systems, 450 databases and five technology platforms.

“Kim has been a major contributor to the brand transformation and a valued part of our executive team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kim for the hard work and commitment she has shown in working for Helloworld,” Burnes said.

Burnes also highlighted two other departures over the past two weeks, including general counsel and company secretary, Stephanie Belton, and general manager of corporate development, Andrea Slark. In addition, Helloworld’s CFO, Jenny Macdonald, is leaving the organisation at the end of April after an 18-month stint following its complete integration with AOT group.

Helloworld posted its half-year results for the six months to 31 December 2015 this week, reporting total transaction values of $2.43 billion, a rise of 5.4 per cent year-on-year. The group also reported revenue of $139m, down 0.4 per cent, and an EBITDA of $8.1 million, a drop of 3.2 per cent.

Kim Portrate was named one of CMO’s 50 most innovative marketers for 2015. You can find her full profile here.

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