Waitrose creates three new roles to bolster marketing team

Waitrose is strengthening its marketing team through the creation of three new roles, designed to help bring its brand “alive in a more assertive and consistent way”.

Helen Carroll joins Waitrose as its head of brand and customer experience. The new role brings the customer and brand teams together to “enhance and translate” the strength of the brand across each customer touchpoint.

“We already enjoy huge brand loyalty, but by joining the brand experience and customer experience… we aim to take our relationships with customers to the next level,” Waitrose customer director, Nathan Ansell says.

Carroll is currently head of community strategy and engagement at the Co-operative Group, where she has been responsible for ensuring the brand delivers on its purpose. She has been at Co-op for more than 20 years and was previously head of brand at the business. She will join Waitrose at the end of October.

Also joining Waitrose is Wendy Rumble, who is currently head of sales at organic baby food brand HiPP Organic. Rumble takes on another new role, head of customer planning and events. This role creation is aimed at ensuring there is consistent messaging to customers across the whole Waitrose experience, from advertising to in-store events.

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Rumble has worked for major FMCG companies throughout her carerer, including Diageo and Britvic.

The Waitrose business is aiming to drive effectiveness and efficiency across its channels with the creation of a third new role, head of customer channels. Current Waitrose head of digital and social marketing Caroline Kinsman will take on the role.

Each role will report into customer director Ansell, who joined the business from M&S in November. Earlier in 2022, Waitrose parent company the John Lewis Partnership appointed former Co-op marketer Charlotte Lock as “pan-partnership” customer director. Lock is responsible for delivering a customer strategy that covers both John Lewis and Waitrose.

Speaking to Marketing Week in May, Lock signalled there could be future hires to “fill any gaps” or “address capacity issues” at the business.

Alongside these new roles, Waitrose is also recruiting for a brand strategy lead. The ad for this job closed earlier this week, with the supermarket looking to recruit an individual who can ensure its brand is “differentiated, competitively positioned and appealing to [its] target customers”.

Waitrose has also been recruiting for a customer experience head “to lead on the development of an omnichannel customer experience strategy and vision” and deliver the strategy once it’s in place. The ad for this role closed at the end of last month.