NAB CMO Suzana Ristevski has announced her departure after five and a half years at the bank. She will join Google mid-year to lead the tech giant’s marketing across AUNZ, replacing Aisling Finch who departed late last year.
In a statement via LinkedIn, Simon Kahn, vice president of marketing at Google APAC, said Ristevski’s expertise and experience will propel the Google AUNZ marketing team to even greater heights.
“Suzana will join us in June and brings over 30 years of cross-industry experience in financial services, telecommunications, private health insurance, and industrial sectors,” he said.
“Her proven track record in driving sustainable growth through strategic marketing, coupled with her deep understanding of the market and reputation as an innovative change-maker will no doubt be invaluable in elevating our marketing efforts.”
Since Finch’s departure, devices marketer Julia Davis has been the interim marketing chief.
NAB chief operating officer Les Matheson will now commence a formal recruitment process to find Ristevski’s replacement. The bank will consider both internal and external talent.
She joined NAB in 2018 as general manager of business bank marketing and customer strategy. She was promoted to chief marketing officer the following year.
Prior to NAB, she worked in various marketing and product leadership roles at GE, Optus, Medical Benefits Private Health Insurance Fund, and 20th Century Fox in London.
In 2022, Mediaweek spoke with Ristevski about the importance of marketers understanding the regulatory landscape: “I don’t think any marketer is going to be able to do their job properly if they are not across the legislation and requirements, particularly in financial services marketing.
“There are fines from ACCC if you’re not compliant, penalties delivered by ASIC, and it’s not a good customer experience if we get it wrong. And it’s incredibly important to be across the requirements.”
At the end of 2023, the government announced it would draft new laws regarding the News Media Bargaining Code and ensure the ACCC keeps an even closer eye on Google and Meta. In 2022, the court ordered Google to pay $60m for misleading representations.
See also: NAB’s Suzana Ristevski on her team’s key learnings and takeaways from their ADMA partnership