Carnival Cruise Line Australia marketing chief sets sail for new professional adventure

Jayne Andrews

Carnival Cruise Line Australia’s director of marketing and CMO50 2018 honorary, Jayne Andrews, has confirmed she will leave the company at the end of August to pursue her next professional endeavour.

Andrews joined the cruise operator five-and-a-half years ago and has since overseen a range of innovative marketing initiatives. She told CMO the role has been like joining a startup “with big brand backing”, giving her the opportunity to get involved in marketing through to PR, digital, CRM and product developments to localise offerings for the Australian market. Today, the commercial team has 22 employees.

“Overall, it's been an absolute honour to be a part of building the brand in the Australian market,  she said. “As with any senior role, it can be hard to come up for air and take a breath and work out your next move. After five-and-a-half years, I knew I needed a new adventure, new brand or brands to build. I haven't secured my next role yet, but I wanted to be transparent with my team here, give them an extended time to find a new Jayne.”

Andrews said she’ll be looking for another CMO role in a creative, entrepreneurial environment.

“There is never a good time to leave an awesome role, but I knew if I didn't bite the bullet, I would never do it. But I am ambitious and keen to build on my career,” she continued. “It is going to be hard to match what Carnival has given me over the last few years.”

One of the more outlandish highlights Andrews pointed to was setting up troupe of water-skiing Withes across Sydney Harbour behind a ship. Another achievement was launching the ‘Honeyboomers’ program incorporating retail offers and campaign activity. This stemmed from commissioned research showing one in five Australian couples hadn’t been on a holiday without their kids for at least five years.

A third success was helping to create the itinerary for a new Melbourne Cup cruise, which is now in its fourth year. 

Andrews saw big things ahead for Carnival and noted the arrival of a new ship, Carnival Splendor, at the end of 2019. 

Prior to joining Carnival, Andrews largely built her career working for agencies and was a client account director at BMF and Soup before consulting on Telstra’s loyalty program. She then became marketing director at Fairfax’s RSVP dating site.  

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