Tony Phillips leaves the supermarket giant after being appointed its first chief marketing officer last March
Woolworth has confirmed the immediate departure of its first CMO, Tony Phillips, after just one year in the role.
According to a statement from the supermarket giant, his sudden exit comes in the midst of a strategic review of its marketing functions and brand direction aimed at improving its customer engagement and services.
Current head of marketing for Woolworths Liquor Group, Andrew Hicks, will take over as interim CMO while a permanent replacement is found.
On 22 May, just days after Phillips' exit was announced, Woolworths also confimed its director of customer experience, Jess Gill, would depart after three years with the supermarket group and one year in the customer chief's role.
Woolworths has now stated that end-to-end brand control will all be placed in the hands of the next CMO, suggesting Gill will not be directly replaced.
Woolworths released details of a three-year turnaround plan last week aimed at helping reposition the business as a customer-led organisation. The strategy is based around three pillars: Improving the core offer, innovating products and services to better meet customer needs, and initiating new efficiencies.
These new efficiencies have already seen the departure of hundreds of staff and will result in a further 400 full-time positions go.
Related: CMO Interview: Tony Phillips talks cheap cheap, brand strategy and marketing
The news also comes weeks after Woolworths suffered a social media backlash for its Anzac Day campaign, which was subsequently withdrawn.
“We are proud of the work Tony has done in the past 12 months, including the reintroduction of the iconic fresh food people brand and the introduction of ‘Cheap cheap’, which has improved our price perception in the market,” the company said in a statement confirming his departure.
“We are undertaking a strategic review of our marketing functions and our brand direction as we refocus on getting our customers to put Woolworths first every time they shop.”
Phillips was Woolworths’ first-ever CMO, joining the organisation from its rival, Coles, where he held various marketing roles.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu
I’ve been a long-time fan of renowned effectiveness experts, Peter Field and Les Binet, and their work. But while their approach is clearly important, the marketing leader’s challenge to deliver effectiveness more often lies in organisational structure. I see the bigger question being whether a marketing chief has a seat at the executive table, and the ear and respect of the CEO and company board.
Every flagship smartphone in Australia includes hardware and software purpose-built for AR. A huge audience is ready and waiting. We have an opportunity to craft extraordinary, innovative work. But to get there, we need to push our creative thinking a little harder, writes Gil Fewster.
There are five tell-tale signs your brand needs to take a long hard look at itself.
In this bonus last episode of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with former ANZ group general manager of marketing, Louise Eyres, talks about the importance of thinking like a customer and using intuition to solve customer painpoints.
Why it's important for me to know that? I don't get it, sorry.
James Fogle
7 things you need to know about Facebook's mood experiment
Info graphic have proven to be very useful to create brand awareness and drive traffic. Thanks for sharing these Information.Graphic Desi...
Govind Dadhich
Image intelligence:10 must-see infographics for marketers
Best web hosting packages Vancouver WA understands that only technical support and domain associated email address can bring huge leads ...
Radiata Solutions
6 Ways to ramp up Social Media to Your Web Design
I had the same vision about change from CX terminology to HX. Even with almost the same title: 'Forget customer experience...' https://ww...
Ekaterina Khramkova
Forget customer experience, human experience is marketing's next frontier
Thank you, so do I.
David Freeman
Sustainability of message: H2coco founder's commitment to consumers