Vladka Kazda had no idea what she was in for when she volunteered to tackle customer retention at online marketplace, Carsales.

Experience is the new brand, and customer and employee experience are vital for the continued success of any business.

​Gateway Bank has appointed a new chief customer officer (CCO), Ritu Sinha, as the current CCO, Lexi Airey, moves into the CEO role at the end of March.

The report has been tabled and the 76 recommendations are in. And there are a few clear lessons on what many have recognised are keys to ensuring your organisation is customer-led, from the very top to the very bottom and everywhere inbetween.

Well-respected marketer and former Suncorp customer experience chief, Mark Reinke, has joined the leadership team at News Corp as part of an executive reshuffle.

In another example of how the customer must be king moving forward, ​Gateway Bank’s chief customer officer is shortly to become the bank’s new CEO.

​The convergence between marketing and sales is continuing, with Volkswagen’s general manager of marketing, Ben Wilks, moving into the general manager of sales, passenger vehicles role in a company reshuffle.

Catherine Anderson, chief customer officer at Powershop Australia says always look and listen beyond the marketing department for feedback and ideas.

Rachael Powell’s job title tells us all we need to know about marketing right now. As chief customer, people and marketing officer at Xero, she is the embodiment of the evolution of marketing and how, in order to achieve true connection with the customer, trust must occur from the inside before it can go out to the customers.

It’s the combination of great technology and people that will give organisations the means to deliver personalised experiences that actually meet customer expectations, AGL’s chief customer officer, Melissa Reynolds, claims.

​Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s chief customer officer has been appointed to the position of managing director, effective from early July. Marnie Baker, who will take over from Mike Hirst in the role of MD, has worked across all facets of the Bank since 1989 and led the Bank’s entry into the new payments platform and digital banking.

Moving into the future, the key differentiator for brands will be customer experience. This is the view of ME Bank’s new chief experience office (CXO), Ingrid Purcell, who was appointed to the new role late last year.

Highly regarded marketing leader, Andy Lark, has joined Foxtel as its chief marketing officer, overseeing brand, content, customer management, acquisitions, digital and product management.

​Myer has revealed its deputy CEO, chief merchandise and customer officer, Daniel Bracken, is leaving the company amid ongoing tough retail trading conditions.

QBE Australia has promoted executive GM of marketing, Bettina Pidcock, to chief customer officer, the first such role to be introduced at the insurance group.

​SumoSalad co-founder and CEO, Luke Baylis, talks about marketing's broader business role and why he's so keen to improve customer understanding at the healthy fast food restaurant chain.

Jason Bradshaw was ​appointed Volkswagen Group Australia’s first director of customer experience​ 12 months ago, an executive-level role he claims is also a first for Australia’s automotive industry. The remit: Put the customer front and centre across HQ, as well as its dealership network, making customers the first, second and third priority behind every business decision.

The chief customer officer (CCO) is becoming more prevalent than ever at the highest level in the boardroom. Software AG's first chief customer officer shares how he's helping instill customer centricity at the enterprise vendor.

Westpac has appointed its first chief customer officer, hiring a former Disney executive from the US as part of a series of executive changes.

In March, small business technology provider, GoDaddy, joined the growing list of organisations globally to appoint an executive-level chief customer officer (CCO).