Aussie marketing leader to become customer chief at Asda

Experienced Australian retail marketer, Anna-Maree Shaw, has landed the chief customer officer role at UK-based grocery store chain, Asda.

The former global CMO for Michael Hill Jewellers as well as product marketing, advertising and sales leader for Flight Centre’s niche retail brands takes up the role at the end of January and replaces Andy Murray, who is relocating back to the US after a four-year stint leading the customer function.

For the last two years, Shaw has been running own company, Customer Dialogue, and is currently consulting to The University of Queensland around its customer-led digital strategy and roadmap. Her Australian resume also includes marketing roles with Compare the Market, Suncorp and Link Market Services.

The Asda position is a both a return to the UK and Shaw’s grocery roots. Earlier in her career, she spent more than five years in CRM, marketing and commercial management roles with UK grocery giant, Sainsburys. She’s also previously been on the agency side, working on the Tesco account.

Shaw’s appointment at Asda is one of several executive-level changes at the company to kick off 2020. Others include the promotion of SVP of operations, Anthony Hemmerdinger, to chief operating officer; Mark Simpson to chief supply chain officer; and the recruitment of Mars Wrigley UK’s Helen Selby as general counsel and company secretary.

Shaw told CMO she was "torn between having to choose between my first love - grocery retail - and the higher education sector and team at The University of Queensland". 

"In fact, I was working for Sainsbury’s when ASDA originally overtook them to become number two in the market. Today of course the positions are reversed so therein lies the challenge," she said of her new professional challenge.

"I am excited to join a group of outstanding peers under the leadership of retail veteran, Roger Burnley [Asda CEO] and work in one of the most competitive and innovative retail markets in the world. 

"I will be focused on building on the work that Andy Murray has done along with leveraging my multi-sector CX and digital transformation experience to support the next phase of the ASDA journey."

Burnley said the latest staffing changes round out his executive leadership team.

“As we kick off 2020, I am very confident that not only do we have the right team in place, but also the right strategy to make sure we can continue to serve our customers and grow our business, not just for this year but beyond,” he said in a statement.

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