Aussie retailer Paws for Life brings on its first CMO

Appoints former Sony head of brand marketing as its first chief marketing officer as it looks to move from startup to market leader

Australian pet supply retailer, Paws for Life, has appointed former Sony head of brand marketing to become its first chief marketing officer (CMO) as it looks to embark on its next phase of development.

Simon Hovell was previously the head of direct business and brand marketing at Sony and steps into the CMO role immediately. His was previously marketing director at Dell Australia and New Zealand, the head of brand, advertising and customer value at NAB, and has worked in a number of media agency roles.

Alongside Hovell, Paws for life has also recruited former chief financial officer of Virgin Mobile, Paul Jamison, as its new CFO.

In a statement, Hovell said Paws for Life has made significant strides using the lean start-up approach of experiment, iterate, learn, optimise and repeat, but it was time to take things to the next level.

The retailer was recently awarded Fastest Growing Startup at the 2014 StartupSmart Awards and claims to have chalked up 58,000 per cent growth in three years of operation. It has also raised $2.4 million in investment funding since its inception in 2011.

“Up until now, the marketing focus has been solely on gaining traction through rapid payback marketing efforts, with most success in search engine marketing,” Hovell said. “My remit is to expand that approach into other channels and build out the customer experience with a particular focus on retention and partner marketing.

“I’m excited by the challenge of taking animber start-up on the brand evolution journey. Simultaneously, as we grow we’re committed to maintaining our high levels of customer happiness.”

Paws for Life CEO and founder, Mike Frizell, said Hovell and Jamison brought the organisation strong experience in large, market-leading firms.

“At Paws for Life we manage everything ourselves, from developing our technology to warehousing and logistics, to distribution and customer service, and now marketing and accounting,” he commented. “ It is the only way we can ensure our customers get the level of service they expect and deserve, and the only way to ensure our partners get the brand integrity they deserve.”

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Show Comments

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in