WW marketing chief promoted to top A/NZ job
- 15 June, 2022 12:57
Nicole McInnes
Weight Watchers has promoted its marketing and engagement director, Nicole McInnes, to managing director for A/NZ and brought on a new marketing chief.
McInnes joined WW in 2019 as director of marketing and commercial, bringing with her 25 years’ marketing experience working for the likes of Dell, AMEX, Pandora Music, eHarmony and WooliesX. She takes up the chief reins from Mathieu Le Renard, who moves into a new international role based in Europe.
Following the promotion, WW has confirmed former Australian Radio Network CMO, Anthony Xydis, as its new director of marketing and engagement. Xydis, who joined ARN in 2013 and rose to chief marketing officer in 2016, was recognised for his efforts in the 2019 edition of the CMO50 list. His resume also includes local and international marketing roles with Clear Channel International, CBS Outdoor, and APN Outdoor.
Xydis has been consulting to WW since September 2021 and will report directly to McInnes.
Speaking on the decision to promote McInnes, Le Renard said the experienced strategic marketer has been a key member of the A/NZ executive team and is a proven leader with extensive industry experience and commercial expertise.
Credit: ARN “As we move forward into the next phase of transformation and growth, Nicole will drive the business’ growth ambitions and amplify our impact on health, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic,” he said.
Commenting on her appointment, McInnes said she was looking forward to tackling a broader remit. Although her work so far has already demonstrated an ability to influence outside the traditional marketing and acquisition function, as well as commercial nous informed by her years being accountable for sales, marketing return on investment and lifetime value at organisations such as Dell.
Key milestones at WW over the past three years include building retention and digital experience teams as well as technical optimisation of media and budgets based on analytics and data. It’s work that’s extended into building business data dashboards, influencing global on funnel optimisation and customer lifecycle segmentation. WW’s retention and digital experience teams are also now working hand-in-hand with acquisition to increase member lifetime value.
McInnes was recognised on the 2020 and 2021 edition of the CMO50 list for these efforts.
"I'm delighted to deepen my commitment to positively impacting the health of Aussies and Kiwis with this broader remit,” McInnes told CMO.
“Mostly I’m inspired by our members’ success, as they benefit from Weight Watchers’ years of scientific, weight loss expertise. We've heard of people just loving the energy they’ve gained from incorporating sustainable healthy habits, to others who are no longer pre-diabetic, or have come off blood pressure medication. Their stories are what keeps the WW team so engaged and wanting to change more peoples’ lives.”
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