Relax everyone - we've got this! New TAB NZ CEO.

[Reefton]

Media Release
17 January 2022

 

 

TAB NZ appoints Mike Tod as new CEO

 

 

TAB NZ has appointed corporate executive Mike Tod as Chief Executive Officer.

Board Chair Mark Stewart says Mike will take up the position on March 21.

“The Board and I are thrilled to welcome someone of Mike’s international experience to lead TAB NZ. He is a deeply customer-centric leader with extensive experience in key areas of focus for our organisation, including product and service innovation, marketing, brand and consumer engagement. His appointment and those areas of focus will allow us to drive further revenue growth for our racing and sporting stakeholders” Mr Stewart says.

Mike has held senior roles with TVNZ, Fonterra, Air New Zealand and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He is a former member of MasterCard’s Asia Pacific Advisory Board, is a Director of Queenstown Airport, and is an advisor to Live Ocean Racing.

He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme and the university’s Sustainability Leadership Programme, and is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

“Mike’s global experience with Air New Zealand - in particular as Chief Marketing and Customer Officer where he led the resurgence of the brand and delivery of proactive and service innovations internationally - places TAB NZ in a strong position to meet its financial potential and to deliver upon the expectations of its stakeholders,” Mr Stewart says.

“His experience in highly regulated industries and with organisations with significant stakeholder complexity, will be invaluable to TAB NZ.

Mike says he is thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead TAB NZ into the next exciting chapter of its history.

“TAB NZ is an iconic organisation that is inextricably linked to New Zealand’s way of life. Now that the racing industry reforms are well advanced, this allows TAB NZ, as a commercial wagering operator, to focus on its objectives of maximising profits for the long-term benefit of racing in New Zealand, to maximise returns to New Zealand sporting organisations, and to support our communities,” Mike says.

Mike‘s commencement in the role on March 21 will complete the transition from the New Zealand Racing Board and the Racing Industry Transition Agency to TAB NZ.

ENDS

 

 

For more information, please contact:

Matt Smith
TAB NZ

e     matt.smith@tab.co.nz
m   +64 27 228 5423

 

Another bloke with zero/zilch/nought experience in racing admin (and probably even less interest in the industry) appointed to cure all the industry woes.

 

When the eff is this industry going to seize back control?

[nomates]

1 minute ago, Reefton said:

He is a deeply customer-centric leader with extensive experience in key areas of focus for our organisation, including product and service innovation, marketing, brand and consumer engagement. 

As a customer i will be looking forward to my phone call asking what i think the TAB has to offer to make me a happier customer and therefor spend more money with them .

Never going to happen . ( I need to keep a template for this sentence because i use it so often ) .

[Chief Stipe]

27 minutes ago, Reefton said:

“Mike’s global experience with Air New Zealand - in particular as Chief Marketing and Customer Officer where he led the resurgence of the brand and delivery of proactive and service innovations internationally - places TAB NZ in a strong position to meet its financial potential and to deliver upon the expectations of its stakeholders,” Mr Stewart says.

But haven't TAB NZ devolved most of the marketing function to the codes?  So what is the point of this expertise?

I don't seen any mention of his wagering knowledge or experience so I assume he has none.  Same old same old I'm afraid.  Until they get someone who knows how to increase wagering revenue they are are just wasting their time.

[nomates]

3 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

But haven't TAB NZ devolved most of the marketing function to the codes?  So what is the point of this expertise?

I don't seen any mention of his wagering knowledge or experience so I assume he has none.  Same old same old I'm afraid.  Until they get someone who knows how to increase wagering revenue they are are just wasting their time.

Ah ! but they still have most of the management team that have made so many smart decisions over the transition period , and look at them now bounding along .

[Huey]

Flybuys on the punt - Yeehaa!

It's all over folks, all over!

[Doomed]

They don't even try to pretend he once set foot in a TAB or even once went to Ellerslie for a piss up, which does show a certain arrogance. At least there is no mention of NZ Post or Foreign Affairs.

I suppose we should be grateful there is no suggestion that he intends to live in Australia and run the industry remotely.

To be honest of course, the TAB should just be a service industry as it once was. This idea that the TAB somehow should show some sort of industry leadership is a relatively new concept, and it hasn't been particularly successful so far.

[Kihikihi Kid]

For crying out f u c k i n g loud !!!!

"He is a deeply customer-centric leader with extensive experience in key areas of focus for our organisation'

"....will allow us to drive further revenue growth"

FFS , someone please tell Mike 'one D' Tod that our Industry is in dissarray and in dire straits.

 

 

[KickintheKods]

And once again, they fuck it up, and totally miss the target.

[nomates]

3 minutes ago, Kihikihi Kid said:

FFS , someone please tell Mike 'one D' Tod that our Industry is in dissarray and in dire straits.

 

And this is the real fear , that cracks were painted over when giving him an overview of the industry's position . I mean the people who have grown roots staying stationary whilst trying to convince everybody that things are swell aren't exactly going to give him the cold hard truth of the job ahead .

[Joe Bloggs]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

But haven't TAB NZ devolved most of the marketing function to the codes?  So what is the point of this expertise?

I don't seen any mention of his wagering knowledge or experience so I assume he has none.  Same old same old I'm afraid.  Until they get someone who knows how to increase wagering revenue they are are just wasting their time.

I bet to celebrate his appointment he'll rush into a TAB outlet [when he finds one] and open an account.......and once someone shows him how to place a bet he'll have 50c each way on the hottest fav at Cracker on SAT!

[Chief Stipe]

Someone would have told him it was a step up and used smoke and mirrors with the turnover figures to show the TAB was a "Multi-billion dollar business"!

It'll take him at least 3 years to work out that actual revenue is much less than that and is the key figure.  Hopefully his tenure at AirNZ educated him on yield management.

[Huey]

1 hour ago, nomates said:

And this is the real fear , that cracks were painted over when giving him an overview of the industry's position . I mean the people who have grown roots staying stationary whilst trying to convince everybody that things are swell aren't exactly going to give him the cold hard truth of the job ahead .

The real worry is he was one of the only candidates and knows how screwed the industry is and is here to do what the last 4 or 5 have done, in fact thats the impression I get. 

Unless of course Fairy Flash was involved in the interview process , he'll then be thinking its honky dory!

I can't wait to hear from the big wigs how good this guy is gonna be , its happened in every single TAB & NZTR appointment.

[nomates]

11 minutes ago, Huey said:

The real worry is he was one of the only candidates and knows how screwed the industry is and is here to do what the last 4 or 5 have done, in fact thats the impression I get. 

Unless of course Fairy Flash was involved in the interview process , he'll then be thinking its honky dory!

I can't wait to hear from the big wigs how good this guy is gonna be , its happened in every single TAB & NZTR appointment.

Yet again none of us instilled with confidence . To be honest it's gonna take someone a bit special to turn things around for us and i haven't seen anyone like that for a long time .

There wouldn't be a big time CEO of any business that gives me much faith that they do anything but add up their salaries .

[aquaman]

People that run casino's, that is their CEO's, usually start at the bottom within the organization and work their way up to the top. Example, croupier, pit boss, security etc. They usually have a thorough grounding in all aspects of the gaming business. The TAB do the opposite, they employ people that have no understanding of the business, and would not know a punter if they fell over one. They have been repeating this failed formula for choosing their CEO's for some time. Just my thoughts on subject.

[Huey]

13 minutes ago, nomates said:

Yet again none of us instilled with confidence . To be honest it's gonna take someone a bit special to turn things around for us and i haven't seen anyone like that for a long time .

There wouldn't be a big time CEO of any business that gives me much faith that they do anything but add up their salaries .

Just someone with a bit of heart who looked like they cared about the long term future of the industry, in particular someone who had a passion for punting or 1 of the 3 codes.

This reads again like another corporate BSer who'll bring in the service mantra from Air NZ/Banking etc that doesn't work in this industry.

Having said that Mckenzie was supposed to be the golden god to take the industry to the next level, he did the easiest thing there is in cutting costs (of that we have to be gateful at least I guess) but the organisation still seems to be treading water.

[Guest Whyisit]

2 minutes ago, aquaman said:

People that run casino's, that is their CEO's, usually start at the bottom within the organization and work their way up to the top. Example, croupier, pit boss, security etc. They usually have a thorough grounding in all aspects of the gaming business. The TAB do the opposite, they employ people that have no understanding of the business, and would not know a punter if they fell over one. They have been repeating this failed formula for choosing their CEO's for some time. Just my thoughts on subject.

I agree with the first part of your post    

[Joe Bloggs]

1 hour ago, nomates said:

Yet again none of us instilled with confidence . To be honest it's gonna take someone a bit special to turn things around for us and i haven't seen anyone like that for a long time .

There wouldn't be a big time CEO of any business that gives me much faith that they do anything but add up their salaries .

The only bloke that could turn it around was last seen dressed in white rags and dragging a white cross across his left shoulder surrounded by people that go to church on Saturdays so couldn't get to the races......!

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Huey said:

Having said that Mckenzie was supposed to be the golden god to take the industry to the next level, he did the easiest thing there is in cutting costs (of that we have to be gateful at least I guess) but the organisation still seems to be treading water.

My analysis found that he didn't actually cut costs.  Just shifted them to someone else.  Didn't address the fundamental cost issues either - the high cost system and broadcasting contracts.

He had a chance to slash those or at least renegotiate when they were insolvent. 

[The Centaur]

 "maximising profits for the long-term benefit of racing in New Zealand,"

"to maximise returns to New Zealand sporting organisations, and to support our communities"

 

Racing gets profits whilst sports get returns???

Meaning.... sport always get their money .... racing only gets cut of the profits. i.e. sport will be after a larger % cut than at present. Only the crumbs for racing

[Peanut]

21 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

My analysis found that he didn't actually cut costs.  Just shifted them to someone else.  Didn't address the fundamental cost issues either - the high cost system and broadcasting contracts.

He had a chance to slash those or at least renegotiate when they were insolvent. 

McKenzie was an abject failure on every level.  His interviews on TV were cringeworthy and nothing more than meaningless  rhetoric, utter BS and incessant "you know"s.  This Tod bloke cannot possibly be any worse and is hopefully a hell of a lot better.