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.”
The current global COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in unprecedented disruption to every aspect of our lives as marketing and brand professionals, from the ways we work, to how our organisations operate, and the way in which we acquire and engage customers. So we’ve drawn on our wonderful CMO50 alumni community to explore different aspects of the crisis facing all of us right now.
The current world pandemic, COVID-19, and its tragic effects has created different and challenging situations for nearly every business. Every business sector is affected differently, depending on the nature of what your place in the world, creating the most unique situation most of us have ever and will ever experience during our professional lives.
People whose personal details and experiences signal they come from racially diverse backgrounds are less likely than anglo or Caucasian candidates to make it through the first cut in recruitment processes. Even if the organisation says it values diversity.
The impact of coronavirus is far reaching with the true impact on the economy and businesses is unknown. While there are a few categories and brands experiencing growth, for the most part the crisis is wreaking havoc for large and small operators across many sectors including entertainment, tourism, retail, fitness, services and the list goes on.
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