Comparethemarket chief Liz Darran nets Fortnum's job

Upmarket retailer Fortnum & Mason is planning to develop its data-driven strategy with the appointment of Comparethemarket marketing boss Liz Darran as chief brand and creative officer.

Darran, who joins the company in August, will oversee creative consistency across all consumer touchpoints for the business and work across all key departments.

She will also focus on developing what the firm calls a “future facing, data-led and fully joined-up customer insight strategy” to ensure that customer experience is at the forefront of Fortnum’s ideology as it navigates changing consumer behaviour.

Having started her career at Engine, working on BMW, 3 Mobile, Darran ran the agency’s biggest creative account – Sky – before switching to the TV and broadband giant as its brand and creative director in 2012 with a remit to drive creative excellence. She has been marketing director at Comparethemarket since June 2018.

Darran joins the executive team following the appointment of Tom Athron as chief executive in December 2020. He said: “I am hugely excited about Liz joining me and the rest of the executive team to help mark the next phase in our brand’s history. Liz has world-class experience and insights that will help us to build on the great creative work that is currently underway here at Fortnum’s.”

Darran commented: “I’m looking forward to being an instrumental part of the next chapter in Fortnum’s history. It is a beautiful, unique, sustainable brand that is perfectly placed to thrive and innovate at a dynamic time in the retail and hospitality sectors. The team at Fortnum’s share my passion for building brilliant, unique end-to-end customer experiences and I’m excited to start driving the next phase of growth for the brand.”

TOPICS:data strategy data-driven marketing retail marketing