The new roles will see the brand and customer experience teams come together to take relationships with customers “to the next level”, according to Waitrose customer director Nathan Ansell.
Primark’s marketing boss Michelle McEttrick joined top marketers from Boots and Waitrose to discuss how retailers can offer more in physical stores.
The company’s customer directors tell Marketing Week it was Saatchi & Saatchi’s focus on differentiation, understanding of “the demands of modern retail marketing”, and its “smart, strategic, exciting” creative ideas that helped secure it the account.
After a pitch process that began in February, Saatchi & Saatchi will take over from Adam&eveDDB as the partnership’s advertising agency.
Tesco’s Emily Wells joins the John Lewis Partnership as head of loyalty to develop a new pan-partnership loyalty proposition, which is expected to launch in 2024.
Inflation hit the John Lewis Partnership “like a hurricane”, says chair Sharon White, with “strong sales” at John Lewis offset by declining sales at Waitrose.
Prices will be reduced by 14% on average across everyday basics such as carrots, tea and sausages.
Nathan Ansell will join Waitrose in January, replacing Martin George who announced his departure in July.
The supermarket is aiming to do something “different from the norm” with this year’s Christmas campaign.
The grocer hopes by adopting a “more confident” tone of voice it can dial up its appeal among consumers looking for quality products amid the cost of living crunch.
Waitrose is due to unveil its new brand positioning within the next couple of weeks, which the supermarket’s executive director says will be more “confident and bold”.
Waitrose is in the process of recruiting a new customer director to replace George, as he departs to pursue non-executive roles.
Waitrose sent a legal letter to Asda last month after it unveiled plans for a similarly named budget range – Just Essentials by Asda.
Asda is set to invest £45m in the new budget range, as it seeks to regain its position as the UK’s second largest supermarket by market share.
The firm is promising further “significant investment” this year in areas including digital services, shop refurbishment, value and revenue diversification.