After 18 months Collis set to depart Director Innovation Creativity and Brand role at Telstra

Mark Collis, Director Innovation Creativity and Brand at Telstra is set to part ways with the telco giant on Friday after 18 months in the role.

Collis, who joined Telstra in May 2010, did not return calls or texts from CB last night and this morning.

With the appointment of Collis, Telstra was the first major Australian marketer to recognise such a role, following a trend that has been happening overseas in recent years.

Collis’ departure come nearly a year after the appointment of Mark Buckman as Telstra’s chief marketing officer, who could not be contacted by CB last night.

Says Buckman (left), who announced the news this afternoon: “As you know, Mark has provided a great sense of energy to Telstra during rapid transformation. Along with Kate McKenzie and Inese Kingsmill, Mark led the development of the new brand work and the ‘it’s how we connect’ positioning. His ability to look at problems through less traditional lenses and provide fresh perspectives has been invaluable. I’d personally like to thank Mark for his help to me during my early days at Telstra and wish him much continued success on his journey and his determination to challenge conventional thinking.”

Before Telstra, Collis was ECD at Ogilvy and Mather, Tokyo, where he had been since January 2008, returning toSydney at the end of October 2009.

Collis was previously ECD at Leo Burnett Sydney and known for campaignssuch as ‘Pommies’ for Bundaberg and ‘Inner Child’ for McDonalds, aswell as the award winning original ‘Earth Hour’ campaign for WWF. Earth Hour and Inner Child were both included in Campaign Brief’s top ads of the decade.