OMD appoints new Telstra lead

OMD has appointed Vanessa Nicol as head of Telstra, replacing Tom Sutton who is returning to the UK for a new opportunity. Nicol joins OMD from a senior business director role on the Optus client at M&C Saatchi Australia.She brings 16 years of experience in the telecommunications industry from a wide variety of marketing, advertising and product development roles. She has worked on both client and agency side, having worked at BT, Optus and Virgin, as national marketing manager, and more recently head of acquisition marketing.Nicol (pictured) will be based in Sydney and will report to Aimee Buchanan, general manager OMD Sydney. She starts her new role from 13 January 2014.Peter Horgan, CEO of OMD Australia said: “Nicol is a strategic-thinking, results driven marketing professional, with unrivalled category experience and a proven track record of managing and launching effective multi-channel communication initiatives that drive business and brand growth. We are very excited about the addition of Vanessa’s leadership and business knowledge on this market leading client.”This appointment reflects both the evolution of the Telstra business and the expanding the relationship with OMD, which is increasingly data and performance lead.Mark Buckman, CMO Telstra said “Telstra have worked with OMD for the past seven years, and over the past 18 months we have extended our relationship with them to include a deeper strategic remit. They work with us as a true strategic business partner and do an exceptional job managing our complex business in a quickly evolving landscape.”