KPMG Australia Adds CMO Team to New Division

KPMG Australia has launched a new Advisory team for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs), within its Customer, Brand & Marketing Advisory business - and appointed Carmen Bekker as a Partner, heading it up.

The Customer, Brand & Marketing division was set up in June this year when the global consultancy acquired customer research agency Acuity, and has already been grown from 43 consultants to 72, including nine partners. The latter include former Google exec Lisa Bora and former Virgin Australia Chief Customer Officer Mark Hassell, while Melanie Evans - formerly GM of B2B IT at Telstra, has joined as a Director and Nick Deverson, Mike Stokes and Alanna Beracochea arrived a month ago.

Bekker (pictured) brings more than twenty years' experience servicing leading international brands in London, Europe and Australia, from roles including Management Partner and European Marketing Director for J Walter Thomson London, and previously Business Director at Saatchi & Saatchi in London and Sydney. Earlier she led JWT Entertainment and worked with UK ad industry body the IPA. Most recently, she has worked as a consultant.

Paul Howes, Partner in Charge of the wider division, comments: 'What sets Carmen apart as a leading voice in marketing is the fact she's been at the top of the game in London and Europe for well over a decade. She brings this expertise back to Australia, and her fresh international perspective is exactly what our clients are wanting... The launch of a new CMO Advisory practice under Carmen will take our business to the next level as we move into 2018'.

Bekker says CMOs face challenges from global trends including media transparency, marketing spend accountability, and creating meaningful customer engagement, and intends to 'champion diversity within the wider industry with a focus on female leadership, and also on diversity in the work that brands create when marketing to customers'.

Web site: www.kpmg.com.au .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.