More than 300 Optus employees have already completed at least one class within the telco’s new CX Academy since its launch five months ago.

Three CMOs from very different industries share their thoughts on the importance of diversity in business in general and marketing in particular, and how marketing can help brand embrace diversity and create an authentic and purposeful approach.

It’s taken just a decade for mobile advertising to rise from relative obscurity to represent a billion dollars of ad expenditure in Australia (according to the IAB), and account for 62 per cent of general digital display spending.

Consumer expert and former marketing function leader, Vicki Brady, has been appointed CFO and head of strategy for Telstra.

Seven West Media chief digital officer, Clive Dickens, will leave the organisation to join Optus, a move triggering a series of leadership digital, technology and content leadership changes at the ASX-listed SWM group.

​Former BRICKX and Amaysim marketer, Andrew Balint, has been appointed as the CMO of rideshare platform, Ola, for Australia and New Zealand.

​Qantas has become Australia’s strongest brand, surging from third place last year and improving its brand strength index to 86.6. Telstra remains Australia’s most valuable brand, despite its brand value dropping 7.3 per cent, according to the latest brand value report by Brand Finance.

There’s no question today’s brands recognise the purpose of gathering customer intelligence (CI) is is to better understand customer motivations in order to drive future growth.

All the latest martech, adtech and customer technology news from engaged:BDR, Optus, Microsoft, Gaze, Act-On Software and Criteo.

Understanding customers is key to driving a successful business strategy in the age of digital disruption, according to ANZ’s group executive of digital banking, Maile Carnegie, who spoke at today’s Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) event in Sydney.

Optus is offering pre-paid consumers the opportunity to earn extra data by viewing advertisements on their smartphones.

Optus has appointed a new permanent chief of consumer marketing and product, filling the gap left by the departure of Vicki Brady.

Australian organisations aren’t working hard enough to ensure employees closest to the customer can raise ideas that help improve customer experiences, Optus managing director, Allen Lew, claims.

Optus Business director of marketing, Hayley Clarke, is leaving the telco this month to become the first global CMO for Australian-based risk management services firm, SAI Global.

Optus is increasingly combining data on customer behaviour, location, usage and interactions with traditional and digital information to give its product roadmap and marketing programs a shake-up, according to its insights chief.

Optus has attributed its decision not to renew a partnership with Qantas’ Frequent Flyer program to plans to evolve its own customer loyalty offering.

Marketers have historically put too much focus on acquisition and need to recognise existing customers are both a source of growth and influence through advocacy.

Optus is claiming to be the first global brand to use Facebook’s trending feature for a consumer campaign that relies on posting fresh content daily to the social media site.

Customers are happy for businesses to use their data for marketing so long as it’s relevant, according to data scientists at Optus and Medibank.

The chief marketer of Vodafone Australia has said she is not keen to roll out a customer loyalty program in the fashion of the Telstra Thanks program.

Optus has stressed the importance of customer advocacy for future growth after reporting improved customer engagement rates in its latest quarterly financial results.