Smart bets

Chief Customer Officer Jenni Barnett has convinced two Commbank marketers to join the Tabcorp revolution. Vanessa Sanford is on board as General Manager of Marketing and Media while Jo Jones joins as Head of Digital marketing across all Tabcorp brands.

The move follows Tabcorp also hiring another ex-NAB, HSBC and Commbank exec, Amy Shi-Nash, to oversee its data-analytics operation as Barnett, the former Telstra digital boss, continues recalibrating the betting firm’s digital approach in a bid to outgun nimble competitors.

Sanford spent almost a decade at Commbank, rising to GM of Media, Marketing Operations and Technology in July 2019. Among a slew of initiatives, Sanford had overseen the bank’s push to link first party data to the outside media world, which involved plugging more deeply into the Google stack at the expense of Adobe. Her role at Tabcorp will be broadly equivalent to a CMO remit and it is likely that the betting firm will aim to replicate that first party-to-web template, enabling for example, sharper personalisation, contextual targeting and suppression.

Jones, with Commbank for four and a half years as Executive Manager of Media and Adtech, will report into Sanford, overseeing martech, digital performance and owned asset strategy.

Barnett spent 16 years with Commbank before joining Telstra in 2018 as Executive Director at Telstra Digital. She joined Tabcorp a year ago with a remit to reshape the demerged business.

Since then Barnett has merged the marketing and brand team with media and partnerships with a focus on driving growth through digital and data smarts while working to stitch together Tabcorp’s owned channels – circa 4,000 venues and 50,000 screens, plus Sky Racing and sports properties. Last year the firm launched a new app to spearhead a CX and personalisation push Barnett thinks will drive greater growth than funding a traditional advertising battle with free-spending rivals.

Given the pressure piling onto gambling advertising, that may prove to be a smart strategic bet. Tabcorp is now pulling spend from traditional TV during the daytime, though not exiting altogether.

Pullout underway

“The community is over it. We all agree there is too much [gambling advertising on TV] and it does need to be moderated – that is absolutely where government will take things,” said Barnett. “We’re slowly pulling out of free-to-air between 6.30am and 8.30pm, particularly the sporting events where the community is telling us they are sick of it. It’s a regulated category, but kids love watching the NRL and AFL – and when your child is talking about ‘multis’, that is really sad. It is about moderation, and it needs to be completely rebalanced.”

She reiterated CEO Adam Rytenskild’s commitment to last month’s parliamentary inquiry that the FTA pullout would exclude horse racing, “which kids don’t watch,” per Barnett. Otherwise, “I would expect us to be out [of broadcast TV advertising early morning to late evening] by the start of next year.”

Barnett said she saw the writing on the wall for gambling advertising even before taking the job – “this was always my ingoing hypothesis” – bolstering her mandate for change.

“The transformation of our customer capability is well in progress,” Barnett told Mi3. “I’m really comfortable with where we are headed from a digital marketing and media perspective, likewise data analytics.”

Barnett said there is “still work to do” around digital capability despite bringing in “about eight key new hires” across the customer function.

“I haven’t finished yet. There’s probably another 20 [hires] to go, but some of those will be repurposed roles [using existing staff],” she added. “I’m really happy with progress. We have brought in people who have done it before in the category – but we have more to do.”