Exec exodus for Cell C

Just short of reaching the eight-year mark with SA's third cellphone operator Cell C, executive head of marketing Simon Camerer is leaving the company at the end of the year.

Camerer, who has held the position of executive head of marketing for Cell C since March 2004, says the only reason for his departure is that he “just needs a break”.

He says that, while his achievements with the company have been rewarding, “defining the customer experience is a tiring process” and he now needs to recoup.

Camerer's departure makes him number four on the list of executives who have recently left or are set to leave Cell C.

He follows Cell C's erstwhile CEO Lars Reichelt, who left the company suddenly in mid-July, and CIO Ron Reddick, who also left abruptly, just over two months ago.

Reichelt, who joined Cell C on a three-year contract in March 2009, declined to renew his contract for personal reasons. The relevant parties agreed that in the interests of the company, his decision would be implemented immediately. Reichelt subsequently agreed to stay on with Cell C in an advisory capacity, but the operator has yet to fill the position of CEO. Meanwhile, chairman Simon Duffy is acting CEO.

Cell C has also confirmed the company's executive head of sales and distribution Sue Kennedy recently tendered her resignation.

While speculation does the rounds as to the seemingly sudden flight of executives from Cell C, the operator says that, except in the case of the CEO, “we don't comment on the reasons why executives leave the company”.

Previously a duopoly owned by Vodacom and MTN, the cellular space saw Cell C's precarious entrance into the market at the end of 2001. Three years later, Camerer joined the team and set out to revolutionise the brand and its products.

Camerer has been known to stir the pot during his tenure at Cell C. He is the man behind the rebranding of Cell C's logo last year, which was met with controversy due to its resemblance to the copyright symbol and is still embroiled in legal processes. He is also responsible for the “Tell Trevor” campaign featuring local comedian Trevor Noah.

The inclusion of a comedian as the “customer experience officer (CEO)” of Cell C got tongues wagging and proved successful insofar as the attention the campaign elicited.

The campaign started when a video of Noah, complaining about Cell C's service, was posted online in July last year and Cell C responded with an apology in the Sunday Times. The following month, the mobile operator announced Noah would be its new “CEO” (customer experience officer) and work to communicate consumer concerns to the company.

At the time, Camerer said that, within the space of a month, over 30 000 people had posted messages to Noah, and the Tell Trevor Web site had received over 10 000 views.

More recently, Vodacom lashed out at Cell C for an advert that it said was disparaging of its rebranding campaign, which the market leader launched in April. While Cell C won the appeal on the grounds that Vodacom failed to establish that Cell C's advertisement disparages its advertising campaign, the advert was pulled due to “unsubstantiated claims”.

Camerer, who has also been acting in the capacity of executive head of customer operations for the last two years, feels he is leaving Cell C on a high note, “which is always a good thing in my opinion”.

The Loerie award recipient says he has achieved a lot during his term at Cell C, both for himself and the company in terms of building the brand, and he now needs to take a breather and spend some time with his family.

Camerer says he intends to remain active in the ICT space, which he describes as “very vibrant”. He says he has been receiving a number of phone calls and that he has “a number of irons in the fire” in terms of future plans. “Something will transpire, but for now I just want to get my mojo back.”

He feels good about leaving Cell C at this juncture and is “looking forward to the next chapter in the ICT space”.