James Burnett, Chief Marketing Officer of gambling operator Ladbrokes Australia, announced today that he has left his post after serving at the company for the past three years. Mr. Burnett was, in fact, the sports betting company’s first CMO after it introduced its services in Australia in 2013.
The official is to be succeeded by Simon Jarvis. He is joining Ladbrokes from Australis College, where he took the position of General Manager of Marketing. Mr. Jarvis was instrumental to building the brand into a rapidly growing training organization, one of the fastest expanding in Australia. He had also formerly served at a number of marketing agencies, with BMF, CM, and Draft FCB London being among those.
After spending three years at the gambling operator, Mr. Burnett said that he would take a short break before pursuing new career opportunities. It could be said that the official was instrumental to the introduction of the Ladbrokes brand to the Australian gambling market. Mr. Burnett joined the business when it was still Gaming Investments. In September 2013, the start-up company was purchased by the UK gaming and sports betting giant. Mr. Burnett was instantly appointed as the brand’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Among other things, he was behind Ladbrokes Australia’s popular marketing campaign featuring a cockney-accented voice-over. Commenting on their decision to turn to cockney actor Jamie Kristian and feature him in a series of advertisements, Mr. Burnett has formerly said that it was welcomed with mixed reactions but eventually proved to be the right one.
He has further noted that Kristian gave the company “a unique voice in a cluttered market” and that he enjoyed great popularity among the target audience of males aged between 18 and 35. Recently, the cockney-accented actor was replaced by a quintessential Australian one – Garry Sweet, so as for the gambling operator to attract the attention of males over 35 and to increase its market share in that particular demographic.
Earlier this year, Mr. Burnett said in a statement that Ladbrokes has gradually grown into the third-biggest gambling company in Australia, generating more than A$1.5 billion last year and drawing over 85,000 new depositing customers.
Other important initiatives Mr. Burnett was involved in during his tenure at Ladbrokes Australia included the launch of the Ladbrokes VISA card as well as the introduction of a cash-in facility with Sydney-based technology payments company Blueshfyt.
