Former John Lewis Partnership customer director Charlotte Lock has joined the V&A as director of audiences, just weeks after leaving the retailer for what she described as a “personal passion”.
Reporting to the organisation’s deputy director and chief operating officer Tim Reeve, Lock will sit on the V&A executive board and be responsible for marketing, brand, audience, communications, digital engagement and experience.
It is understood she will work alongside the museum’s head of integrated marketing and insight, Sophie Rouse, who has been at the V&A since 2019.
Lock will also oversee the delivery of the V&A’s brand and audience strategy, with a focus on audiences under the age of 35, as well as the launch of the V&A’s two new destinations, V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum, in 2025 and 2026.
Adam & Eve DDB handles the organisation’s advertising and marketing account. Its most recent campaign was an outdoor blitz that launched last year under the new strapline “If you’re into it, it’s in the V&A”.
The V&A claims to be the world’s largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, with an estimated 2.8 million objects. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient history to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.
Lock said: “I am thrilled to be joining the V&A team at such an exciting time and to support the team in the mission to enrich lives and strengthen society through the power of creativity.”
Lock had joined John Lewis in March 2022, having spent two years at Co-op as a director of its data and loyalty teams and also held several roles during an eight-year spell at the BBC.
However, most recently she led the revival of the Never Knowingly Undersold price promise, which had been in place since 1925 but was axed in 2022 and replaced with “For All Life’s Moments”.
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