Sangster returns to Australia as IBM CMO following marketing reshuffle

IBM has confirmed Jodie Sangster will return to Australian shores as its local chief marketing officer, as current A/NZ CMO heads off to India to take on a fresh marketing leadership challenge.

Sangster has spent the past year as IBM’s Singapore in CMO. She initially joined IBM in early 2018 as CMO artificial intelligence (AI) liaison lead/chief customer officer for the IBM Watson team, tasked with helping marketers better understand the application of AI in marketing and commerce.

Following IBM’s divestment of its marketing and commerce technology assets in April 2019 to Centerbridge Partners to become the distinct business, Acoustic, Sangster relocated to Singapore as a CMO in May 2019.

Prior to IBM, Sangster spent seven years at the helm of the Association of Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA). During her time as CEO, ADMA underwent extensive changes, encompassing a rebranding and repositioning from direct marketing to data-driven marketing, multiple acquisitions including the purchase of the Institute of Analytics Professionals Australia (IAPA) and ailing AIMIA, and realignment under the group umbrella of Australian Association of Data Leadership (AADL).

"I'm super-excited to be coming back to Australia to take on CMO role for IBM A/NZ," Sangster said in a statement.

Sangster reports to IBM A/NZ managing director, Katrina Troughton.

An IBM spokesperson confirmed to CMO that A/NZ CMO, Amanda Johnston-Pell, has been promoted to a new role covering regional marketing, and will be moving to Bangalore, India shortly. Her official title is VP of IBM Marketing Services Centre Asia-Pacific, China and Japan.

Johnston-Pell has been the A/NZ marketing chief since early 2016, overseeing a team of 90 staff and reporting to IBM’s local managing director. Johnston-Pell’s efforts as CMO saw her recognised among the CMO50 of Australia’s most innovative and effective marketing leaders in 2018 and 2019.

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