Automotive brand brings on new GM of customer experience
Volkswagen Australia has brought on a new GM of customer experience after its GM of customer and marketing, Jason Bradshaw, resigned from the role to pursue his own CX agency.
The customer experience thought leader confirmed to CMO that after almost six years, he made the decision to leave his role as Volkswagen’s Australian director of customer experience and marketing in April.
Bradshaw became Volkswagen Australia’s first dedicated director of customer experience at the end of 2015, having built his marketing and customer credentials across brands including Fairfax Media, Target and NSW Department of Finance and Services. He took on the marketing mantle as an additional responsibility at Volkswagen in January 2019.
Bradshaw said he was extremely proud of the work his division has delivered during his tenure and noted an overall improvement in customer experience to very positive territory across all touchpoints.
Over his time as CX chief, Volkswagen Australia has delivered CX and employee experience (EX) programs to over 5000 participants, work that helped increased the number of Australians positively engaging with the brand. Bradshaw also oversaw the launch of an ecommerce platform that resulted in over 1000 customers being served in the first nine months and generated $36 million in revenue.
Other successes include the division winning over 30 industry awards across training, customer care, customer experience, marketing and CRM. In 2020 and 2021, Bradshaw was voted one of the Global Gurus Customer Service’s top 30 gurus on customer service and experience.
Read more: 10 ways Volkswagen’s first chief customer officer is driving a new experience agenda
Bradshaw said it was now time to step out on his own. He’s now building out his own agency, Power of CEX, a name which takes its cues from the book, It’s all about CEX!, which Bradshaw authored in 2018. The agency’s focus will be on supporting individuals and organisations to accelerate growth through lifting experiences they deliver across customer, employee, product and brand pillars.
“At the age of 14, I started my first business where I competed on delivering a differentiated experience instead of competing on price. For the last 20 years, I have had the privilege of working for some of Australia’s most recognisable brands including Telstra, Target, Fairfax, and of course, Volkswagen, to name a few,” Bradshaw commented.
“In addition, I have regularly keynoted major events across the globe providing thought leadership and insights to help organisations transform and improve the experiences they create and deliver, to accelerate their growth.
“I am passionate about helping organisations and individuals improve the experiences they deliver, so they can accelerate their professional and business growth. Therefore, it is only natural that my journey includes the formation of my own agency, Power of CEX, focused on supporting individuals and organisations to accelerate their growth with an intentional focus on the experiences they deliver across customer, employee, product and brand.”
A Volkswagen spokesperson confirmed the group has now brought on Rick Whaite as its new general manager of customer experience. Prior to joining Volkswagen, Whaite was national marketing and partnerships manager for Alinta Energy. Prior to this, he was group business director for Innocean Worldwide for five years.
He was also the co-founder of the first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Australia, Boost Mobile.
The Volkswagen spokesperson said Whaite's position as a renowned practitioner of marketing, product and customer experience across automotive, communications, entertainment and hospitality, technology, financial services and energy made him a valuable asset as an executive leader.
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