A commercial remit developed one responsibility at a time

Mandate

Connect marketing allocations with the subscriber relationship beyond the introductory offer and explain the commercial judgement behind the budget.

Outcomes

• Redirected C$1.2 million of prospective channel spend after reviewing two 2,400-line cohorts over ninety days.
• Obtained a six-month C$340,000 extension for a distinct prepaid proposition while examining alternatives.
• Ran a twelve-location assisted-choice pilot under C$480,000 authority for six months.
• Retained C$1.8 million and transferred C$800,000 from a disputed C$2.6 million budget allocation, with a six-month review.

Decisions in context

I became CMO in January 2021 after four years leading brand and growth. The remit joined the proposition, channel allocation and wider marketing account under one executive recommendation. I report to Martin Avelmere and work with Elise Norwyn on the financial definitions used to assess those choices. The current team and authority describe calendar 2026; the employer's revenue and employee figures refer to 2025. My cases retain the difference between an action I authorised and a commercial effect that would require later evidence. A changed channel split, a prepaid extension and an assisted pilot are completed decisions. They are not interchangeable with attributed returns. The company uses wholesale connectivity rather than owning radio infrastructure, so the marketing account must remain consistent with the actual service arrangement. I have presented recommendations to the board throughout this appointment without acquiring a director seat. The continuing task is to make investment choices understandable after the opening acquisition count has been reported.

Reason for the move

Current appointment; considering only discussions whose scope and calendar can be assessed alongside the existing role.

Mandate

Bring the brand account and acquisition reporting into a common commercial review as the business expanded.

Outcomes

• Replaced six inconsistent acquisition summaries with one documented cohort review.
• Defined line counts separately from counts of individual customers in the reporting account.
• Completed eight quarterly allocation discussions during the final two years.

Decisions in context

This role expanded my responsibility from individual propositions to the relationship between brand expenditure and growth activity. The minority investment in 2018 changed the company's ownership context, but I did not negotiate that transaction. I led forty-one employees through five direct reports by the end of 2020, with C$24 million annual authority. The most useful change was less dramatic than a new campaign: six acquisition summaries were replaced by a common cohort review whose definitions could be challenged. We also stopped using line and customer counts as if they described the same population. Eight quarterly allocation discussions in the final two years made the account a recurring management practice. Those process changes did not themselves establish revenue growth. They prepared me to make a broader recommendation because the competing uses of marketing money could be discussed on a more consistent basis. The next appointment brought responsibility for the final functional judgement and its presentation to the chief executive.

Reason for the move

Promoted to CMO in January 2021 with responsibility for the whole marketing recommendation.

Mandate

Develop propositions whose customer explanation matched the actual commercial arrangement and the service available.

Outcomes

• Prepared eight proposition briefs for cross-functional commercial review.
• Withdrew three of those briefs after review; five continued to the next development stage.
• Introduced four recurring review questions covering the offer, transition, service and customer choice.

Decisions in context

I moved from Toronto to Vancouver to join a younger mobile business in June 2010. The company had a different operating model from a network owner, and I needed to learn that distinction before making customer claims. My role was an executive functional directorship, not membership of the board. I led proposition work with commercial and service colleagues, retaining their authority over the arrangements being described. By December 2016, twenty-six employees reported through five direct reports and the annual programme authority was C$11 million. Of eight proposition briefs brought to review, three were withdrawn and five continued. I considered the withdrawals useful decisions because they identified questions before a public commitment. The four recurring review questions made the transition after the opening offer more visible. Moving into brand and growth gave me responsibility for comparing these proposition choices with the wider use of marketing resources, rather than examining each offer in isolation.

Reason for the move

Appointed vice-president of brand and growth in January 2017, adding a wider allocation remit.

Mandate

Make the reasons behind cancellation contacts more useful to programme decisions without assigning every customer outcome to marketing.

Outcomes

• Reviewed thirty-six cancellation-contact categories and consolidated them to fourteen.
• Examined 1,200 selected operational records before introducing the revised classification.
• Established six joint service-and-marketing reviews during the final appointment year.

Decisions in context

Retention responsibility changed the questions I asked about acquisition. I could see the later contact, the disappointed expectation and the commercial explanation that had become difficult to recall. By May 2010 I led twenty-one employees through four reports and held C$6 million annual programme authority. The review of 1,200 selected records helped us reduce thirty-six inconsistent contact categories to fourteen. It did not produce a representative estimate of customer dissatisfaction, and I did not present it as one. Six joint reviews during the final year gave service and marketing colleagues a place to examine the account together. My remit concerned the programme, not unilateral authority over billing or service delivery. The move to Veldoran followed a wish to influence the proposition earlier in the relationship. I wanted to use what the later contact revealed while there was still an opportunity to change the initial choice and its explanation.

Reason for the move

Moved to Veldoran in June 2010 to shape mobile propositions before acquisition rather than focus primarily on later retention activity.

Mandate

Coordinate campaign releases with the people responsible for commercial terms and the customer conversation after launch.

Outcomes

• Coordinated six campaign releases during the final twelve months.
• Brought four separate reporting files into one monthly campaign review.
• Organised twelve pre-release briefings with sales and service colleagues in the final year.

Decisions in context

The move into campaign management was my first substantial responsibility for people and delegated expenditure. I led nine employees through two direct reports by May 2004, with C$1.4 million annual authority. Six releases in the final year required coordination between colleagues whose priorities differed: commercial accuracy, timing, sales activity and the questions service teams would receive. Bringing four reporting files into one review improved the discussion, but I did not treat the administrative change as an attributed sales result. Twelve pre-release briefings helped make the actual terms easier for colleagues to explain. I learned to distinguish responsibility for a campaign sequence from control over every function affecting the customer. The retention appointment offered a way to examine the later relationship more directly. It followed the questions that had become most interesting to me during release work, rather than a belief that acquisition and retention could be managed through the same measure.

Reason for the move

Promoted to head of customer retention in June 2004, following growing involvement in the period after campaign response.

Mandate

Prepare reliable interview records and research summaries for the people deciding customer programmes.

Outcomes

• Helped recode 640 historical interview records into consistent categories.
• Prepared twenty-four monthly research summaries during the final two years.
• Participated in eighteen observed customer interviews during the final assignment cycle.

Decisions in context

I joined the research team immediately after completing my commerce degree in May 1990. The eleven-person setting gave me access to practical customer questions without granting authority over the campaigns that followed. I prepared records, supported interviews and learned why a category on a form did not always preserve the meaning of the conversation. The 640 historical records, twenty-four summaries and eighteen observed interviews describe specific contributions within the team. They do not represent a claim to have redesigned the company's research practice. My manager controlled the budget and the recommendations made to programme owners. Over time I became interested in how those owners used the findings when they had to choose a release date, a proposition or a limited amount of communication space. The campaign-manager move let me take responsibility for that next stage while retaining the habit of asking how the evidence had been recorded.

Reason for the move

Appointed campaign manager in June 1997 after developing experience of how research questions affected programme choices.