In this exclusive we cover:
👉What Anna does in a day
👉How Anna’s helping to revamp Commonwealth Bank’s Credit Card Rewards Program
👉Entry level marketing roles in finance
1. Before we dive into your role at the Commonwealth Bank, what has your career journey looked like so far?
I’ve always been taken by how incredibly elusive and effortless iconic brands connected with their customers, especially through my brand marketing units at University. In 2017 as I was approaching my last year of my Business and Arts degree at UNSW, I was busy applying for jobs in the traditional sense – your typical graduate roles at FMCGs, Ad Agencies, Telco and even Aviation. I ended up taking a gap year to work out what it was I wanted to do and ended up landing a great gig at Yahoo7 as a Campaign Manager in their Ad Operations team.
From then, I spent a few years at e-commerce giant eBay, where I started off in the Commercial team as an ads intern, and was rotated into Consumer Retail Marketing as a Retail Marketing specialist – a welcome surprise as I thought I was going to be in Adland forever! I then ventured into the world of B2B startups at Woolworths at Work, a new procurement platform in Woolworths’ business to business arm.
Fast forward to now – where I am a 1:1 Customer Communications Marketing Manager at Commonwealth Bank. Why? After I started full-time work, I got immersed in the wonderful world of personal finance and investing, starting with using investing platforms like CommSec pocket, So joining CBA aligned with my personal values and i’m excited to be furthering their mission as Australia’s most accessible bank, creating a brighter financial future for all.
2. Transitioning into work, what the heck does a Marketing Manager @ Commonwealth Bank do?
How is the marketing function structured?
The Retail Bank is the largest division at CBA, servicing more than 15 million customers in Australia and globally. My wider team, the Consumer Marketing Team, leads all marketing for the Retail Bank to meet the needs of customers, while deepening relationships that customers have with us.
What does your role entail?
I love the way my team is so heavily involved in communicating exciting initiatives and programs that customers like you and I engage with on an everyday basis – think of the Credit Cards programs, everyday banking products and more recently, StepPay (CBA’s BNPL) and Crypto buying program.
My role involves shaping and delivering these BTL (Below the line) customer communications programs, by designing data driven multi-channel personalised contact strategies. These channels could be in your email inbox, on your CommBank app, or even in your mailbox. No two days are the same, and it’s a dynamic role within an even larger working group across non-marketing stakeholders.
3. What’s an example of a campaign that you’ve worked on and what was your role in bringing it to life?
Project/Campaign Name: CommBank Awards credit cards program
What was it?
I’ve recently joined the team in November 2021 and one of my first campaigns was refreshing the content for our monthly activity as part of the CBA Credit Card Awards program where we partner with companies like Myer, Flight Centre and The Iconic and other retailers to bring customers exclusive deals, I’ve worked with stakeholders across product, loyalty, creative agencies, risk and data to bring this all to life across digital channels.
What was your role?
A marketer looks at how our customers will benefit from the comms – is it relevant? Does the copy reflect the audience’s wants and needs? Will the Customer Experience be smooth and seamless?
My role involves writing compelling copy, driving personalisation to further customer engagement and leveraging our world-class technology and data to do so – whether it be marketing a targeted offer, communicating benefits or driving digital engagement.
4. What do the entry level pathways for marketing in the finance industry look like?
CBA has one of the strongest graduate programs in Australia, and if i was still in uni that would be the most direct way into working in a marketing function at a bank, with opportunities to explore different facets of Retail banking, Business marketing, Above The Line and Below The Line Advertising as well as other exciting aspects of the marketing umbrella.
However, I have to say, if you’re like me and didn’t know what you want to do out of uni, working agency-side or brand-side is always a good experience to know how different marketing orgs work. Sharpen your acumen as an intern while you’re a junior, that’s how a lot of us worked our way into more mid-level roles!
5. What’s one thing you recommend an aspiring marketer do right now?
Get on LinkedIn! It’s key to a job search, or just general research. I’d recommend searching for a company that you’d like to work for and exploring the types of people that work there, how they got there, what they studied and getting a sense of how you might end up there.
Set up alerts for roles and companies on LinkedIn jobs and update your profile so it stands out – you never know which recruiter might spot you for a role at your dream company.
