Rod Strother to handle brand and marketing duties at StarHub amidst role changes

Amidst the changes at StarHub, Rod Strother, VP of digital transformation, has taken on new duties to handle and head up the brand and marketing communications teams at StarHub, in the interim. He will be working with StarHub's current ad agencies and has a team of approximately 25 reporting to him, sources close to Marketing revealed.While StarHub and Strother could not comment on the matter at the time of writing, Marketing understands this is due to structural changes across the board. Strother previously headed the digital experience team and was under consumer marketing division. His previous team of about 40 employees have also been redeployed across the company in various units, Marketing understands.Prior to StarHub, Strother was Lenovo’s director, digital and social centre of excellence. In his role, Strother was responsible for leading the social media marketing team in Lenovo. His team was tasked to develop social media as a core skill throughout the company.His background in marketing also cuts across the agency spectrum where he was general manager of Catalyst UK, and was responsible for establishing an Asian base in Singapore. In the role, he also oversaw the sales teams in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Before that, Strother led BBDO Proximity for two years.Last month, StarHub released the news that moving forward, approximately 300 full time employees will be impacted as it looks to make “workforce reductions”- primarily affecting non-customer facing functions. This saw chief strategic partnership officer, Jeannie Ong, exiting the organisation as of 31 December 2018.Despite the departures, StarHub’s exit package has been touted as fair in recognising the employees' past contributions. In a previous statement, a spokesperson told Marketing that the overall package is more generous versus market practice. StarHub also worked with various organisations including the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to identify suitable roles, organising job fairs to showcase open positions referred by these organisations, and setting up a dedicated employee assistance hotline.