Telus has appointed WestJet’s Rob Daintree to lead marketing for its home solutions products.

As the telco’s new director of marketing communications, Daintree will be responsible for a portfolio that includes internet, TV, home phone, online security and some gaming. He will also be focusing on telling “a really robust innovation story through the Telus brand lens,” he says. As with much of the brand’s recent storytelling, his efforts will incorporate the brand’s strong social purpose messaging, which it has been using as a key differentiator to win new customers.

The goal, Daintree says, is to create “more stickiness” around the brand’s products and services, in order to “gain favourability, consideration and ultimately conversion.”

“There’s a risk in our industry of being commoditized. People come home, turn on their television or device and it connects to the internet, and voila! There it is,” he adds.

In that respect, he says, the industry “is not dissimilar from aviation” – a nod to his previous role as director of marketing communications at WestJet, where he spent five and a half years leading the airline’s marketing team through its transformation from a regional carrier to a global airline, as well as navigating the industry-wide disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Telus, Daintree will be based out of Calgary and work alongside the Toronto marketing teams, but his focus “will predominantly be within Western Canada,” he says, where Telus’ internet and TV services are sold. His goal will be to shine a light on the brand’s innovations under the home solutions banner, and how they make a difference in the day-to-day lives of the typical consumer.

“The product story and the innovation and technology that goes behind what powers our product is quite remarkable, and I’m excited to learn more about that specifically and how it benefits our consumers’ lives,” he adds. “Being able to effectively tell that story while layering in the purpose filter is something I’m really excited about.”

In other marketing appointments at Telus, former director of marketing for the telco’s mobile phone business Lisa Mack was promoted to the VP of brand marketing role earlier this year.