Philips CMO Damien Cummings set for move to Standard Chartered Bank
Damien Cummings at the launch of Philips’ Conversation Engine
Damien Cummings, the regional CMO of Philips, is moving on after just over a year with the company, Mumbrella can reveal.
The Australian is set to move to a senior digital marketing role at Standard Chartered Bank based in Singapore, Mumbrella understands.
Cummings did not confirm or deny the news.
The shift marks a return to client-side financial services marketing for Cummings, who has previously worked for Citibank in Australia, as well as brands such as insurer NRMA and Coca-Cola.
Cummings joined the Dutch electronics giant as vice president and chief marketing officer, ASEAN and Pacific, replacing Arent Jan Hesselink, in February 2014. His appointment came a short while after leaving Samsung following a shake-up of its marketing department in late 2013.
One of Cummings’ first moves was to review Philips’ agency relationships, which include Carat for media, Ogilvy for creative and Fleishman Hillard for PR.
He later set up a digital command centre. Called the Conversation Engine, the unit was set up in September last year as a 40-person in-house team made of staff from Philips’ roster agencies.
At the time of launch, Cummings said he would be taking lessons learned from in-house marketing models that have not worked, such as WPP and Dell, where he was online director for Asia Pacific and Japan in 2010.
In response to Mumbrella’s questions about the future of the Conversation Engine, Cummings confirmed that the centre is operating as normal and was part of the company’s plans for this year and 2016.
As the company moves from its current office to newly built regional headquarters in Singapore, at the same site at Tao Payoh, a larger Conversation Engine is to built, he said.
Eight month ago, Cummings said of the centre: “This is the way marketing will be done in the future, and the way agencies will be set up in the future,”
A video to explain the thinking behind the Conversation Engine featured Cummings and Philips CEO Frans van Houten, who said: “Technology is only useful when it meeds the unmet needs of people. So we try to discover the unmet needs by understanding what really want and what they’re really after.”
The social media wave that promoted spurious technology over human ideas is crashing. It will recede into history as quickly as it arrived. If not quicker. This bloke has nowhere to go.
ReplyEndgame…mate are you kidding me? This guy has singlehandedly set up a control nerve centre that responds to brand dynamics in real time with real conversations and real people, using real computers…I can’t wait to see what magic he works at Stanchart.
ReplyThere are many reasons why inhouse digital command and content units will always struggle. Having the right people, having enough content, the notoriously difficult task of reaching these very diverse markets… with multiple languages. All with the extra challenge of multinational processes. The newsroom approach requires a fluid approach, quick sign offs, and autonomy. None of which big companies are great at.
ReplySoothsayer, the conversation engine is a PR newsroom concept that many brands like adidas have adopted. There are off the shelf analytics and tracking engines that you can purchase. To introduce this, the review of Philipps PR retainer has to happen to build the case that the brand is slow in responding to online and real time news, missing opportunities to newsjack, build brand and damage control.
However, his efforts may not coincide with Phillips brand DNA, which is really not as people friendly, social savvy and attention seeking as compared to other brands.
ReplyCouple of Mark Pesce cameos there. Nice.
ReplyHe was only at philips for ONE year. Given the slow moves big companies make, what makes you think the conversation engine idea started with him?
ReplyI use Philips products but the last thing I want to do is have a conversation with Philips. With one exception. If my blender breaks I want a person on the end of the line to help me fix it quickly. I am not alone.
ReplyWe’ll have to rename this guy Cummings & Goings.
ReplyHave your say