The Transformation Issue | Idealog.co.nz
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Simon Moutter has just finished
seven years at the helm of
telecommunications company
Spark. Under his reign, the
changes the company has gone
through are nothing short of
radical, with from its name
(Telecom to Spark), its operating
model (traditional to agile), its
culture (problematic to inclusive)
and its structure (one monopoly
brand to many). Elly Strang has a
chat to Moutter about how the
transformations unfolded.OUTGOING SPARK CEO SIMON MOUTTER
TALKS SEVEN YEARS OF TRANSFORMATION
I thought, ‘Wow
I was drinking
my own kool-aid’
and taking my
mind-led, metric-
led approach
thinking we’re
doing good on
inclusion and
diversity, when
I didn’t realise
it was anywhere
near as wrong
as it was.THE BRAND CHANGE
Moutter first took up a role at Spark from 1999 to 2008 under
previous CEOs Theresa Gattung and Paul Reynolds, before leaving
to take a chief executive role at Auckland International Airport
from 2008 to 2012.
He returned to the beleaguered Telecom in 2012 to transform
the company and “win the future”, as commentators observed he
had a hard road ahead of him.
“Unloved since privatisation in 1990, the telephonic behemoth
hid for some years behind Spot the loveable dog, underperformed
as a share, and took terrible hits from the Labour Government in
the mid-2000s,” Patrick Smellie wrote in Idealog in 2014.
So, in 2019, does Moutter think Spark has succeeded in
winning the love of the public? Kind of. He says while there as still
plenty of people who are not enamoured with the Spark brands,
its more diverse portfolio, which now includes Skinny, Lightbox,
Curious, Revera has won a larger demographic over.
“The problem with the Telecom brand by 2012 was it was
marginalised to a wealthier, whiter, more business orientated
customer group, so we didn’t have much engagement with younger
people – anyone under the age of 35 wasn’t inclined to be with
Telecom,” Moutter says.
“Today, the appeal of Spark and other brands like Skinny
have widened that appeal, we have something for everyone – but
it doesn’t mean everyone loves us.”SPA RK OFF