Andy Lark

Andy Lark's Biography

Andy Lark, former Chief Marketing Officer for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), is a globally awarded marketer and leader in social and digital technologies. Andy has built and run some of the world’s most successful brands and is a globally recognised specialist in eCommerce, social media and technology.

Andy is the CEO of Group Lark and former Chief Marketing and Online Officer for Australia’s leading financial institution, the Commonwealth Bank. Previous career employment includes senior positions at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Dell, LogLogic, Sun Microsystems, Nortel Networks and Fleishman-Hillard International. He is also a partner at Number 8 Ventures – New Zealand’s leading technology venture capital firm and is on the advisory boards of Xero, Xsigo and Prof Gary Hamel’s Management Innovation Exchange.

Andy has 25 years of experience across business-to-business and consumer sectors building successful businesses and leading award-winning marketing programs and teams for Fortune and Times 100 companies, global technology brands, start-ups and the world’s hottest advertising and communications agencies. Andy was at the helm of executing the marketing strategies for Commonwealth Bank, Dell, and Emirates Team New Zealand during his tenure. For Commonwealth Bank, he and his team were responsible for the eWallet for smartphones and Facebook as well as the ‘Can’ Campaign - one of Australia’s largest brand campaigns.

Andy has won over 100 awards for work in building brands and creating online capabilities, most notably the Flying Kiwi Award for outstanding contribution to technology and the Facebook Studio Award for the Commbank Community seeds.

Today he leads Group Lark – a global consultancy driving brand and digital transformations for the world’s leading countries and enterprises. Group Lark helps great ideas flourish in a digital world – and great brands design their future there.

A native of Auckland, New Zealand, Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree from Auckland University. When he is not immersed in work, he is a competitive sailor, a very non-competitive cyclist and writer. His Blog, the daily lark, is in the Top 100 ranked marketing blogs globally and his book, The Connected Customer, will be published shortly worldwide.

Speaking Topics Include

The Innovation Imperative

The world is set to change more in the next 20 years than it has in the last 250 years... Are you ready to adapt? This presentation teaches you how to turn innovation and technology into a growth driver and win in a digital economy using Andy's book Augmented to look at how a new wave of technology will change the fundamentals of society and business.

 

The Truth and Billion Dollar Bullshit

Fail fast, work-life balance, mindfulness over multitasking, purpose-driven businesses - are just a few of the new age battle cries heard in today's workplace. Andy separates the signal from the noise, sharing how he has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars  to build multi-billion dollar brands. He shares the essential traits and tricks to succeed in the digital age and humbling experiences from his personal work with leaders like Scott McNealy, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell.

 

How to make love

Great businesses are built on brands that engender, not just loyalty, but deep rooted love. Love from employees, customers, and from their communities. How will your organisation win hearts and minds in an age where the customer is firmly in the driver's seat? How do you target moments of doubt, desire and dissatisfaction to create products that will be loved? Andy answers these and other questions on love in business.